The use of light gray slots in the power outage schedules depends on the scope of restrictions. Currently, Ukrenergo defines restrictions in groups/queues. When they calculate the consumption volumes for the next day, they determine how many groups/queues should be disconnected at a particular time to balance the system. This was stated by Yasno CEO Serhiy Kovalenko on his Facebook page, UNN reports.
"Everyone who really wanted to has long understood what is happening in the power system. From generation to schedules. However, repetition is the key to knowledge, so I want to go over the theory again. Today, I'll talk about light gray zones. We know that there are dark gray slots in the schedule (no power supply), light gray slots (possible outages) and white slots (power supply). We also know that in each subsequent pair of groups (or queues, as Ukrenergo says) the schedules are the same. That is, 1 and 2 are the same, 3 and 4 are the same, 5 and 6 are the same," Kovalenko wrote.
Kovalenko also explained why and how light gray slots are used.
"It depends on the scope of restrictions. Currently, Ukrenergo determines the restrictions in groups/queues. When they calculate the consumption volumes for the next day, they determine how many groups/queues should be disconnected at a particular time to balance the system. If they say that 1-2 groups/queues need to be disconnected, it means that the disconnection will take place within the dark gray slots at a particular time. So, for example, if on Wednesday from 18:00 it is necessary to limit consumption to two queues, then according to the schedules, this means disconnection of groups 3 and 4," Kovalenko explained.
According to him, if you need to disable 3-4 groups/queues, then light gray slots are added to the dark gray ones.
"For example, if 4 groups/queues need to be disconnected on Wednesday at 7 p.m., then groups 3 and 4 (dark gray zones) and groups 1-2 (light gray zones) will be without power.
I will not write about the disconnection of 5-6 queues/groups. It is also important to understand that since we have a staggered schedule and 6 groups, the cycle of its operation is three days and a week. This affects the uniformity and fairness of outages. That is, in order to compare whether the first and second groups were disconnected evenly, you need to summarize how many hours the first group was disconnected for three days or a week, and how many hours the second group was disconnected for. It is not entirely correct to compare the amount of outages in one day," said Kovalenko.
He also noted that the uniformity is also affected by whether Ukrenergo changes the number of queues for outages during the day.