There will be many challenges in winter, but we will not allow blackouts - CEO of Ukrenergo
Kyiv • UNN
Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said that the energy sector will face many challenges in the winter. He disagrees with the predictions of a humanitarian catastrophe and believes that Ukrenergo is ready for different scenarios.
In the winter, especially for power engineers, there will be many challenges. This was stated by Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Chairman of the Board of NPC Ukrenergo, in an interview with the BBC , and he noted that he does not believe that there will be any apocalyptic scenario in Ukraine. He believes that a blackout will not be allowed, reports UNN.
Kudrytsky commented on an article in the Financial Times by European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, who warned of a possible humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine due to a shortage of electricity: “In the winter months, this (blackouts) will lead to a lack of access to basic services: water pumps and sewage systems will not work, and there will be no heating. With low winter temperatures, some places in Ukraine may become uninhabitable.
I think this is too pessimistic a scenario. If we look back to 22-23, a very difficult winter, when we had few Western air defense systems, we had very few transformers, we had a reserve, but it was not enough, and we did not have the engineering protection that we have now. We went through that winter with sporadic blackouts in cities. But we can't say that the whole country was frozen or the sewerage system was not working
When asked if there would be a humanitarian catastrophe, Kudrytsky said: “I am in this position, among other things, to prevent it. Therefore, I cannot agree with this forecast. But there may be difficulties. We must also be honest about this. It will definitely not be a cakewalk next winter. I think we will face many challenges next winter. The energy sector, first of all, will face many challenges. Our air defense forces, too, perhaps. But I do not believe that we will have any apocalyptic scenario. I believe we will not allow a blackout.
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He noted that Ukrenergo has learned to counteract the enemy's tactics when they see how they are trying to put the power system where they are attacking.
“And we know how to balance it so that it continues to work. We will repair what is damaged. And I will tell you that we have recently set a production record. We dismantled, transported, installed, oiled, connected, and tested a huge main transformer in 20 days. And we did it on our own, with the help of Ukrenergo teams. This transformer supplies power to 200-300 thousand families,” said Kudrytskyi.
In addition, he commented on the forecasts that this winter we should prepare for power outage schedules rather than power on schedules.
“No one knows what the electricity supply will be like in winter. Simply because no one knows what will be: a) Russian attacks and b) what the ambient temperature will be in December, January, February. Therefore, to say that there will be light for 8 hours a day, 16 hours a day or 24 hours a day is just three different scenarios that have their own probabilities of realization,” Kudrytsky said.
According to him, Ukrenergo always calculates the worst-case scenarios and prepares for them.
“So, let's just say that in warm, winter weather of +2, +3, it is quite possible that there will be no blackouts. At a temperature of -10, it will be impossible to balance the power system without blackouts,” Kudrytskyi said.
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