Without any blackouts and without the use of outage schedules: Shmyhal about the second winter during the war
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine has survived the second winter under Russian invasion without blackouts or emergency schedules, and the power system is operating steadily.
The second winter under the full-scale invasion of russia is over. Ukraine went through it without a single blackout and without the use of blackout schedules for the whole country, the power system is working stably. This was stated by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during a government meeting, UNN reports.
The second winter under full-scale invasion is over. We went through it without a single blackout and without applying blackout schedules for the whole country. Today, on the first day of spring, we have to say important words that the power system is operating stably. There are no restrictions for consumers. A year and even six months ago, many did not believe that this would be possible. But our preparation played a key role here
He added that energy facilities have been protected, a stock of backup equipment has been created, and 90% of the main power grids have been restored. The Prime Minister also said that 2 GW of capacity had been added to the system and noted that the capacity to import electricity from the EU had been increased to 1.7 GW.
He also reminded that in December 2023, Ukraine finally became a member of the Energy EU, and Ukrenergo became the 40th full member of ENTSO-E.
Our energy system is fully synchronized with the European one. Over the past 1.5 years, we have built a powerful energy coalition to support Ukraine step by step. Our international partners have donated hundreds of critical equipment. The Energy Support Fund has raised over EUR 400 million. All this is to ensure that today Ukrainian families have electricity, Ukrainian entrepreneurs have electricity, and our economy is working
In addition, he said that today there are more than 8.5 billion cubic meters of gas in underground storage facilities. There are more than 1 million tons of coal in storage.
We have to finish this heating season confidently and immediately start preparing for the next winter. Another key element of our energy strategy is to increase our own gas production. In 2023, state-owned Naftogaz launched 86 new wells. Despite the war, gas production increased in 2023. The goal for 2024 for Naftogaz Group is to reach 15 billion cubic meters of gas production. This is important for our energy independence and sustainability
