Recent Russian strikes have damaged the Ukrainian power system, but a complete collapse is not expected, according to the head of the national grid company Ukrenergo. Ukraine’s national grid company Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said on Monday.
Russian forces have been attacking Ukrainian thermal and hydropower stations, as well as main networks on a near-daily basis since March 22. This has caused blackouts in many parts of the country.
Kudrytskyi told Reuters that the Russians' aim is to create blackouts in major Ukrainian cities, but Ukrenergo's goal is to prevent this.
DTEK, the country’s largest private energy company, reported that the attacks have damaged five out of its six power plants, leading to an 80 per cent loss of capacity.
DTEK, which supplies about 25 per cent of the country’s energy, has had its thermal power stations and other facilities repeatedly targeted by Russian missiles, drones, and artillery during more than two years of war.
Missile strikes have also caused significant damage to the largest Ukrainian hydropower station in Zaporizhzhia, as well as the Kaniv and Dnister stations.
Although most of Ukraine’s electricity comes from three nuclear power plants, thermal and hydro generation are essential for balancing the system during peak consumption.
Kudrytskyi expressed concerns about the state of electricity production, particularly the hydro and thermal generation. He acknowledged the extensive damage reported by DTEK, describing it as a large-scale level of damage.
However, he emphasized that the energy system is not on the brink of collapse.
“We are definitely not one step away from collapse. A collapse refers to an uncontrolled shutdown of most or the entire power system, which has not occurred and is unlikely to happen,” he stated.
Kudrytskyi mentioned the possibility of “localized problems” in specific regions, such as the eastern city of Kharkiv and Odesa in the south.
The energy system of the Soviet Union, and later Ukraine, traditionally relied on large power plants, which are extremely challenging to protect from missile attacks.
Kudrytskyi stressed the need to assess the generation mix and protect generation assets from air strikes.
In order to achieve this, Ukraine would have to construct hundreds of small power plants throughout the country.
He urged for immediate action to begin this process.
