The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine fears that industrial shutdowns will begin after new strikes
Ukraine is preparing for emergency measures in the event of a shortage of electricity.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko stated this in a comment to RBC-Ukraine, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent , noting that in such a case, Kyiv would turn to Europe for emergency assistance.
At the same time, he admitted that these are small volumes that will not save the situation with a large deficit.
“We will start with emergency assistance, and then there may be industrial shutdowns. Our population is the last place in terms of blackouts,” says Galushchenko.
Enterprises that did not import electricity will be disconnected first. In addition, it was said that the management of these facilities should be prepared for possible restrictions, “since the government last year gave guarantees of uninterrupted power supply only to those enterprises that import 50% of electricity consumption.”
At the same time, the minister fears attacks on energy facilities.
“The only thing that can affect the system is attacks. And not even the attacks as such, but the degree of destruction from them,” added Galushchenko.
Director of the Psyche Center Gennady Ryabtsev, who specializes in energy issues, also considers shutdowns possible.
“If the temperature stays below 20 degrees for a week or more, there will be a generation deficit of 2 GW during peak hours. Imports and emergency assistance could cover 1,7 GW. That is, a shortage is theoretically possible,” says Ryabtsev.
Currently, the Russian Armed Forces are not striking energy facilities. However, as Vadym Skibitsky, a spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine , reported, Russia has conducted an analysis for strikes on the Ukrainian energy sector in 2022-2023 and identified the most critical facilities.
According to Skibitsky, the Russian Federation regularly carries out space photography of Ukrainian energy facilities so that “if possible and if they need it, they can carry out such attacks.”
The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy fears that further strikes will lead to industrial shutdowns.