Ukrainians face electricity problems in summer: what every family should do
The summer peak in electricity consumption in Ukraine in 2023 will be associated with greater risks than usual. This is due to major infrastructure repairs that will coincide with the seasonal increase in consumption at certain points. In this regard, power engineers are asking people to take measures and help balance the power system to avoid blackouts.
Ukrenergo has listed the steps that every Ukrainian can take. Power engineers advise:
- if possible, shift the use of powerful appliances from peak morning and evening hours to night hours when consumption is low;
- try not to switch on powerful appliances at the same time (for example, a boiler and a washing machine);
- do not switch on the air conditioner during peak consumption hours, and if you use the air conditioner, set it to a higher temperature than you are used to;
- boil as much water in an electric kettle and on an electric stove as you need at a certain time; if you have a gas stove, it is better to boil water on it.
Why is it important?
Electricity consumption peaks not only in winter but also in summer. Typically, thermal and hydroelectric power plants increase their output during such periods.
However, during the summer peak, power plants undergo a traditional maintenance campaign to prepare for the next heating season. The power units undergoing repairs are unable to generate electricity for some time.
"This summer, the scope of work will be bigger than in previous years: all thermal and key hydroelectric power plants were damaged due to Russian attacks. That is, in previous years, when nuclear units underwent scheduled repairs and were shut down for scheduled fuel replacement, they were compensated by the capacities of large thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants. This year, TPPs and HPPs themselves need significant repairs after the season of massive missile attacks, so it will be more difficult to compensate for the outage of nuclear units," Ukrenergo explained.
In addition, part of the generation facilities - in particular, Zaporizhzhya NPP and a number of thermal power plants - are located in the temporarily occupied territory and are not accessible to the Ukrainian power system. "Therefore, power engineers need the help of Ukrainians to reduce the load on the power system during morning and evening peaks," the experts explained.
As reported by OBOZREVATEL, during Russia's nighttime missile and drone strike on Ukraine on May 16, no hits to energy infrastructure facilities were recorded, but in the evening of May 15, the occupiers fired at one of the thermal power plants and also struck a power line.
Some consumers in six oblasts - Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Chernihiv - were left without electricity. The outages were spotty, and no schedules were introduced.
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