Planned power outages in Ukraine this winter have not been implemented at this time, however, Andriy Gerus, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Energy and Housing and Communal Services, indicated that in the event of massive missile attacks and significant damage to infrastructure, their restoration is possible.
"There is a probability, but it is quite low. This probability depends on what the missile attacks on the Ukrainian energy system will be. Therefore, it is probably impossible to completely rule this out. If there is a massive attack with dozens of missiles and drones on our energy facilities, then the probability of this exists," he said.
Gerus stressed that today we are almost in mid-January, and we have done without any planned outages. The work is aimed at avoiding such situations in the future. “Now it will not be possible to hit our energy facilities so easily. We have a certain margin of safety and energy equipment. Therefore, the probability of outages is there, but quite low,” he added.
According to the updated forecast of the National Bank of Ukraine, the deficit in electricity generation capacity may reach 5% at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. However, taking into account imported supplies, its impact on the economy will be insignificant.
The head of Ukrenergo, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, indicated that Ukraine's energy facilities are provided with three levels of protection against missile attacks and drones.
According to a survey by the Sociological Group “Rating”, almost three-quarters (74%) of Ukrainians are preparing for possible problems with energy supply in the winter. However, they also express optimism that the situation will be better than in the previous year.
The situation regarding possible outages is currently determined by a number of factors, such as missile attacks and threats to the security of energy infrastructure, and further measures will be designed to ensure the reliability and sustainability of Ukraine's energy system.
