Ukrainians urged to stock up on food and water: how to prepare for possible power outages

On May 14 and 15, Ukrenergo introduced emergency power outages across the country - for the first time in a long time, household consumers were cut off from electricity. The reason was a significant power shortage due to the cold snap. Although the blackouts were short-lived (for example, on May 15, they lasted only from 6:40 to 9:00 am), they remind Ukrainians that large-scale blackouts are not excluded. Therefore, you should be as prepared as possible.

In particular, the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) advises to stock up on water and food. First of all, you need to stock up on food that will not spoil without a refrigerator and will not require electricity for cooking. These can be:

• Canned meat, fish and vegetables;
• dried and jerky;
• freeze-dried foods (cereals, instant noodles and soups that need to be poured with boiling water, or buckwheat that can be poured with water at room temperature)

• breads, cookies, crackers;
• dried fruits, nuts;
• chocolate, candy;
• energy bars.

Water should be prepared for at least 3 days. Not only drinking water, but also technical water.

It is emphasized that one adult needs 3 liters of drinking water per day (including liquid consumed with food). As well as 10-12 liters of technical water for hygiene and cooking.

What else you need to stock up on

However, in order to make the blackout as comfortable as possible, the KCSA advises to stock up on a number of "additional" things. In particular:

• buy a battery-powered FM radio to keep up to date with current events in case of a mobile phone and Internet outage;
• stock up on flashlights, battery-powered or rechargeable lamps, candles, matches, batteries, etc;
• fill your home first aid kit with all the necessary medicines;
• prepare a burner with a gas cylinder or dry alcohol;
• take care of safe movement on the street in the dark - buy reflective clothing or reflective tapes for sleeves, bags or backpacks.

You also need to take care of fire safety. In particular, buy a home fire extinguisher and keep it near places where candles are lit or a burner is used.

Blackout schedules will not be avoided

Overall, according to forecasts, Ukraine will probably not be able to avoid the introduction of blackout schedules this summer. The reason is the expected traditional peaks in consumption during the hottest months of the year.

This was stated by Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Energy Research Center, Forbes reports. He noted that if not for the forced emergency shutdowns in Odesa region, blackouts could have been introduced across the country in Dnipro and Kharkiv regions right now.

"Ukraine is unlikely to go through consumption peaks in July-August and winter without restrictions. This is a moderately optimistic scenario. In the worst-case scenario, there will be no access to electricity for 4-6 hours a day. But there will be no apocalypse," the statement said.

What needs to be done to improve the situation in the energy sector

For its part, the Ministry of Energy urged Ukrainians to reduce the use of energy-intensive appliances during peak times. Especially in the evening from 17:00 to 22:00.

Industry - to review production processes to reduce the load on the power system. And also "to attract imports as much as possible to guarantee the avoidance of outages and strengthen the stability of the power system."

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the Ukrainian power system has lost 8 GW of capacity in total, which is why it is forced to cover the deficit through imports and emergency assistance from Western partners (according to energy experts, as of January 2022, the total capacity of Ukrainian power plants was 34 GW). At the same time, the authorities intend to develop decentralized generation to minimize the consequences of Russian strikes.

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