Ukraine needs to ramp up electricity imports as new Russian attacks leaves tens of thousands without power during the country’s coldest winter of the full-scale invasion, President Volodymy Zelensky said following an emergency energy meeting on Jan. 17. Russian forces launched overnight attacks on Jan. 16-17 across Ukraine, hitting energy infrastructure, including substations, in Odesa and Kyiv oblasts, triggering emergency power outages, authorities reported. There are also reports of energy instability in Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Dnipro oblasts, Zelensky added. “We need to accelerate as much as possible the increase in electricity imports and the provision of additional equipment from partners. All decisions for this are already in place, and the increase in imports must proceed without delay,” he wrote. Ukraine can only meet 60% of its energy generation needs, Zelensky previously said on Jan. 16 . The country can only produce 11 gigawatts of electricity but needs 18 gigawatts. Ukraine has ramped up electricity imports, but it is limited by a maximum capability of 2.3 gigawatts. Prices are also sky-high, meaning Ukraine can only afford a certain amount. Rolling blackouts are occurring across the country, even in Western regions, to balance the grid – typically 16 hours without power and eight hours with. In Odesa Oblast, around 16,000 consumers were left without power, Ukrenergo CEO Vitaliy Zaichenko told the Kyiv Independent. In the Bucha region, Kyiv Oblast, where Russia carried out one of the worst massacres during the war, some 56,000 families didn’t have power in the morning after overnight attacks, private energy firm DTEK reported on Jan 17. The icy conditions are complicating repair works, the company added. Energy repair workers hope to connect both regions by the evening, Zaichenko said. Russian troops also hit gas infrastructure, damaging equipment used for extraction, Serhii Koretskyi, CEO of Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas giant, Naftogaz, wrote on Facebook. Over the last week alone, Russia struck six different gas facilities, he added. “Taking advantage of abnormal weather conditions, the enemy intensifies strikes on civilian infrastructure, trying to deprive us of heat, creating unbearable living conditions,” he wrote. President Volodymyr Zelensky declared a state of emergency in Ukraine’s energy sector earlier this week as citizens struggled through bitingly cold conditions without heating and power, with temperatures dropping to -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit) at night. A task force, led by newly appointed Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, has been set up in Kyiv to manage the crisis.Allies have stepped up support, with Germany sending a 60 million euro ($69.6 million) winter support package. “This assistance will help keep our people warm and protected by strengthening heating and heat supply systems – with a particular focus on frontline regions,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on social media on Jan. 16. The situation in frontline regions is the most difficult as active hostilities impede repairs, the Energy Ministry said. Russians have been known to hunt energy workers in frontline regions, killing and injuring hundreds during the war. The U.K. also announced £20 million ($26.7 million) in aid to repair and bolster Ukraine’s energy security on the first anniversary of the two countries’ 100 Year Partnership on Jan. 16.
From The Kyiv Independent - News from Ukraine, Eastern Europe via this RSS feed