In brief: Russian strikes have left Ukraine exporting some electricity even as residents of its capital face prolonged outages, according to an energy analyst. Repeated attacks have interrupted repairs to the substations Kyiv relies on for power.
Ukraine is exporting some electricity to Europe even as Kyiv faces prolonged blackouts because Russian strikes have damaged the high-voltage network that carries power to the capital, energy analyst Oleksandr Kharchenko said on Friday, Nov. 6.
Kharchenko, director of Ukraine’s Energy Research Center, told Ukrinform that the country’s power plants could still generate enough electricity to meet demand despite damage to thermal plants operated by DTEK, Ceske Noviny reports. The difficulty, he said, was getting that power to the people who needed it. In parts of the grid, electricity could still reach buyers across the border while damaged lines limited how much could reach Kyiv.
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Kharchenko said Russian attacks had damaged auxiliary equipment at substations where the main components already had protection. Crews could ordinarily repair that equipment quickly, he said, but repeated strikes have interrupted their work.
Fresh Russian strikes caused outages in seven regions overnight and into Friday morning, Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov said. Conditions were particularly difficult in Kyiv and the surrounding region. The capital had lost some of its own generating capacity, leaving it more dependent on the damaged lines that bring in power from elsewhere.
Ukraine’s connection to the European grid dates to March 16, 2022, three weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Ukraine and Moldova synchronized their power systems with continental Europe that day. Commercial electricity trade followed on June 30, allowing power to be bought and sold across the border
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For Kyiv residents, a power cut can also mean losing running water. The city’s water utility has backup power, but it can’t run the pumps at the capacity needed to supply every building, Kharchenko said. Its immediate job is to keep the pipes from emptying so water can reach homes again quickly once electricity returns.
Kyiv suffered fresh power and water outages on Thursday, a day after service had been restored. The disruption came as the city was bringing its district heating system online for winter. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said nearly 45% of residential buildings were connected to heating as of Thursday, with the city aiming to reach the rest by Nov. 12.
Bringing heat back across Kyiv takes more than a week, Klitschko said. The city operates about 3,000 kilometers of heating pipes. Last January, a major Russian attack left more than 1,670 buildings in the capital without heat.
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