According to the forecast of the Director of the Center for Energy Research Oleksandr Kharchenko, Ukrainian consumers may face long power outages this summer, which could last up to six hours a day. This problem is the result of a number of factors that affect the country's energy system and threaten its normal functioning.
"There will be outages even under a moderately optimistic scenario. And in the worst-case scenario, access to electricity will be unavailable for 4-6 hours a day," Kharchenko said.
According to him, in order for Ukraine to go through the winter without outages or with minimal restrictions, the following conditions must be met: restoration of the maximum damaged capacity; maximum load of nuclear power plants; availability of energy surplus in the EU for its maximum import of 2 GW.
"We have lost up to 7 GW of generation and damaged electricity distribution facilities - substations and networks. Therefore, I am not optimistic on this issue. Ukraine is unlikely to pass consumption peaks in July-August and winter without restrictions," said Kharchenko.
That is, while the authorities are painting a rosy picture for Ukrainians, and Galushchenko says that the country's energy system is intact, the scenario of a "black winter", which everyone was warned about last winter, in 2024-2025 is becoming quite real, since the heat and energy infrastructure has been dismantled.
