{"id":66230,"date":"2024-06-05T12:03:14","date_gmt":"2024-06-05T12:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/05\/as-ukraines-summer-starts-with-blackouts-worries-over-winter-begin\/"},"modified":"2024-06-05T12:03:14","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T12:03:14","slug":"as-ukraines-summer-starts-with-blackouts-worries-over-winter-begin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/05\/as-ukraines-summer-starts-with-blackouts-worries-over-winter-begin\/","title":{"rendered":"As Ukraine\u2019s Summer Starts With Blackouts, Worries Over Winter Begin"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/04\/multimedia\/00ukraine-energy-01-gtwp\/00ukraine-energy-01-gtwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"As Ukraine\u2019s Summer Starts With Blackouts, Worries Over Winter Begin\" title=\"As Ukraine\u2019s Summer Starts With Blackouts, Worries Over Winter Begin\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Skyscrapers are without electricity up to 12 hours a day. Neighborhoods are filled with the roar of gas generators installed by cafes and restaurants. And at night, streets are plunged into darkness for lack of lighting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That is the new reality in Ukraine, where the approach of summer has offered no respite for the country\u2019s power grid, but has instead brought a return to the kind of energy crisis experienced during its first winter at war, a year and a half ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In recent months, Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine\u2019s power plants and substations have left the country\u2019s energy infrastructure severely hobbled. To make matters worse, two nuclear power plant units are scheduled for repairs this week, and summer temperatures are expected to prompt people to turn on their air-conditioners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As a result, the Ukrainian authorities have ordered nationwide rolling blackouts for this week, a more aggressive measure than the regional and irregular power cuts that parts of the country had been experiencing earlier this spring.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of Ukraine\u2019s national electricity operator, Ukrenergo, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TEDnmyPLakI&amp;ab_channel=NPCUkrenergo-%D0%9D%D0%95%D0%9A%D0%A3%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%BE\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said on Sunday<\/a> that the power shortage facing the country this week would be \u201cin a rather serious volume.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukrenergo said emergency blackouts were applied in seven of Ukraine\u2019s 24 regions on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While power shortages in the summer can leave people uncomfortably hot in dark apartments, they pose a more deadly risk in the winter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And already, Ukraine\u2019s widespread blackouts have raised concerns about what will happen when the frigid weather arrives, when the use of heating devices increases the load on the energy system. Experts have warned that power plants have suffered too much damage to be repaired before subzero temperatures set in, around December, which could plunge many people into dangerously cold living conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe situation is even worst than it was last year,\u201d Olena Lapenko, an energy security expert at DiXi Group, a Ukrainian think tank, said in an interview on Monday, referring to the winter of 2022-2023 during which Russia pummeled Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Lapenko estimated that even with moderate temperatures and no new Russian attacks on the power grid, Ukraine would be short 1.3 gigawatts, during peak consumption hours this summer. That represents about one tenth of the energy consumption during peak hours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cCan you imagine what\u2019s going to happen in the winter?\u201d Ms. Lapenko asked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Russia has targeted Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure before. From October 2022 to March 2023, Moscow pounded it with missiles, disabling half the country\u2019s power grid by November 2022. Residents of Kyiv, the capital, sometimes had to rely on flashlights at night and planned for a possible evacuation of the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukraine survived the assaults, thanks to both newly delivered Western air defense systems and round-the-clock work by engineers to repair vital equipment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Russia\u2019s most recent campaign against the power grid, which started in late March, has been more devastating than before because Moscow has improved its tactics, firing larger and more complex missile barrages that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2024\/05\/13\/world\/europe\/ukraine-missile-defenses.html\" title=\"\">Ukraine\u2019s limited air defenses have struggled to intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Energy experts estimate that Ukraine has lost about half its electricity generation capacity since the beginning of the war. Most of the country\u2019s thermal and hydroelectric power plants have been destroyed, which is posing a major problem because they provide the extra generation capacity needed to meet demand during peak consumption periods.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Olha Buslavets, a former Ukrainian energy minister, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/olhabuslavets\/posts\/987474040054700?ref=embed_post\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said last week<\/a> that Ukraine is now essentially dependent on its nuclear power plants, which supply the bulk of the country\u2019s electricity but cannot meet peak demand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">DiXi Group says there is not enough time to rebuild sufficient generating capacity before winter sets in. Olena Pavlenko, the head of the think tank, said Ukraine needed spare equipment like transformers to rebuild substations. Kyiv is hoping it can get spare parts from decommissioned thermal power plants in Germany, Ms. Pavlenko said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One way to help address the problem, Ms. Pavlenko added, would be for the authorities to install gas turbine mobile power plants across the country. But that option could take up to a year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukraine, normally a net exporter of electricity, is now importing record amounts from its neighbors, including Romania, Slovakia and Poland. But Mr. Kudrytskyi, the head of Ukrenergo, said the imports are insufficient to offset the power losses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That has led Ukrainian authorities to impose scheduled blackouts across the country to try to stabilize the grid. DTEK, Ukraine\u2019s largest private electricity company, has published <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dtek-kem.com.ua\/ua\/shutdowns\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">online timetables<\/a> to let consumers know when their homes will be cut off from power, though additional emergency blackouts are sometimes required.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Tuesday, several residents of Kyiv said the scheduled power cuts had forced them to reorganize their daily life. Anna Yatsenko, a 37-year-old film producer and the mother of four children, said that as soon as the power comes back on, she uses her electronic devices to cool her home, and iron and wash clothes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMy husband gets up and recharges power banks,\u201d Ms. Yatsenko said. \u201cYou can\u2019t turn on the kettle. It\u2019s a luxury to use a hair dryer.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Oleksandr Kharchenko, the head of the Kyiv-based Energy Research Center, said during a news conference on Monday that the power grid would not be fully repaired for at least two years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe understand that for the next two years, we need to be prepared for daily outages as a norm, not as a critical situation for us,\u201d Mr. Kharchenko said. \u201cHonestly, all we can do is get used to this as the normal state of affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/05\/world\/europe\/ukraine-energy-blackouts-summer-i.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Skyscrapers are without electricity up to 12 hours a day. Neighborhoods are filled with the roar of gas generators installed by cafes and restaurants. And at night, streets are plunged into darkness for lack of lighting. That is the new reality in Ukraine, where the approach of summer has offered no respite for the country\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/04\/multimedia\/00ukraine-energy-01-gtwp\/00ukraine-energy-01-gtwp-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[46735,6462,8971,11626,2802,11040],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66230"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66232,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66230\/revisions\/66232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}