Energoatom has prepared all power units under the control of Ukraine for winter period

Energoatom has completed the 2024 repair campaign and prepared all nine power units under Ukrainian control for winter operations.

This was reported by the Ministry of Energy.

«The power system remains balanced. However, constant hostile attacks result in damage that complicates its operation. Active restoration of power facilities and preparation of the power system for the autumn-winter period are currently underway.»

On October 9, Energoatom took another power unit out of scheduled maintenance at one of its nuclear power plants (NPPs). They completed this task 11 days ahead of schedule.

Now, all nine power units operating in the territory controlled by Ukraine are ready for the autumn and winter period. All scheduled maintenance activities were completed ahead of time, including the critical stage of reloading the units with fresh nuclear fuel.

What are the forecasts for the winter?

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that the upcoming winter will pose the most serious test for Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion.

Stanislav Ignatiev, Chairman of the Board of the Ukrainian Renewable Energy Association, discussed the state of Ukraine’s energy sector on Hromadske Radio.

«European experts are correct about the difficult winter ahead. As of today, 42.7% of Ukraine’s generating capacities have been destroyed or are in the temporarily occupied territories. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has the largest capacity among them.»

The ZNPP has a capacity of 6 GW, making it the largest in Europe and the third largest in the world in terms of total capacity. The ZNPP does not contribute to the Ukrainian power grid. Additionally, our power grid supplies electricity to ensure the functioning of critical elements of the nuclear power plant.

Ignatiev notes that nuclear generation is the backbone of our power system, with a peak capacity to supply 7.8 GW to the Ukrainian grid. However, this is less than half of the generation that Ukraine consumes in an hour.

In the summer, 28.7% of energy was supplied by solar generation, according to the expert. Currently, it produces more than 16%. In winter, on the sunniest days, solar generation will not exceed 20% of total energy production.

«We understand that we will face a shortage of electricity. At the same time, this is related to three other factors.»

The expert emphasizes that the challenges of power generation in winter will be significant. He adds that if there are no enemy attacks, consumers may only experience hourly power cuts in autumn. However, if the enemy strikes, there could be both emergency blackouts and longer blackout schedules.

«Under optimistic scenarios, we could have electricity every four hours. However, blackouts lasting 16-18 hours are also possible if there are issues in the power system—this represents an average scenario. In a negative scenario, we could be without power for up to a day or more. The scenario provided by the UN monitoring mission is either very mild or medium-weighted. They don’t want to frighten people with a negative scenario, and I don’t want that either.»