In winter, Ukrainians will have to sit, at best, up to 12 hours a day without electricity
In the best-case scenario for Ukraine, even if all possible generation is restored and operational, power outages will still be very long. Energy market expert Alexander Kharchenko stated this on the "Ukrainian Pravda" video blog, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to the expert, the same situation will happen this coming and next winter.
" Our peak consumption last winter was just over 18 gigawatts. Now, the system's truly available capacity, if we repair and restart everything that can be started, is approximately 12,5-13 gigawatts . Plus, let's say, we'll get 2 gigawatts from Europe. That's 15-15,5 at maximum. I see no reason to rely on solar power, especially in winter. Hopefully, everything I've listed will work. Accordingly, we're already facing a 20% deficit," the expert said.
"The situation could be worse, depending on what kind of attacks there are, how much hydropower recovers, how much coal-fired generation recovers, because my forecast is very optimistic. But either way, I see no reason to believe that the deficit will be less than 20% this winter. What does this mean in practice? In order to ensure critical infrastructure and keep electricity running, restrictions between 6 and 12 hours a day are necessary ... Moreover, next winter (not the one that will be this winter, but the one after that) will be more or less the same," Kharchenko stated.
In winter, Ukrainians will have to sit without electricity for at best up to 12 hours a day.