"The situation is difficult": Energy Minister urges consumers to save electricity and prepare for a difficult winter
Kyiv • UNN
The Minister of Energy of Ukraine warned of possible difficulties with electricity supply in winter and summer due to significant losses of generating capacity as a result of hostile shelling, urging consumers to save electricity and prepare for a difficult winter.
Ukraine's Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko has advised to prepare for a difficult winter, noting that it will be difficult to keep the system without restrictions, especially in winter, and indicated that difficulties with electricity supply may also occur in summer. The minister's statement was released by the Energy Ministry on Monday, calling for economical consumption of electricity, UNN reports.
Details
The head of the Ministry of Energy noted that in recent months, the Ukrainian energy system has suffered the greatest damage since the beginning of the full-scale war with Russia.
"As of today, we have already lost about 8 GW of capacity in the system. If this had happened in any other country, there would have been a total blackout. The situation is difficult. But today there is power, the system is balanced, and this is the result of the hard work of power engineers who work every day, around the clock, to maintain the system," the Minister emphasized.
Answering the question whether there will be any restrictions on electricity supply to consumers in the current conditions, as there were in 2022-2023, the Minister said: "It will be difficult to keep the system without restrictions, especially in winter. We should also take into account that we are currently recording the situation as of now, and it is difficult to predict the situation by winter, taking into account the next shelling or its impact on the system. But it is obvious that there will be an additional negative impact on the system. Therefore, the situation will be difficult.
The head of the Ministry of Energy, as stated, "advised all consumers to prepare for a difficult winter, while emphasizing that the energy sector will do everything possible to ensure that it is stable, in particular, like the winter of 2023-2024.
"Even if you have no restrictions today, you need to understand that the war is ongoing, and somewhere along the line, there will be restrictions. That is why it is very important to use electricity economically," the Minister emphasized.
He noted that there may be difficulties with electricity supply in summer. At the same time, renewable energy sources, in particular solar power plants, help to balance the system during this period of the year.
