Forbes: Ukraine imported electricity in June, as in the previous five months
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9:32, 14 July, 2024
Ukraine imported electricity in June, as in the previous five months, and rested on the ceiling. Most were imported from Hungary and Slovakia — 38% and 24%, respectively.
This is reported by Forbes.
«During the hottest hours of July, electricity imports cover up to 15% of Ukraine's needs. But even this is not enough to cover the deficit,» the top manager of one of the Ukrainian state-owned energy companies told Forbes in a comment on the condition of anonymity.
Shelling of the energy sector in the spring of 2024
Russia carried out the first massive shelling of energy infrastructure facilities this year on March 22. The Russian army attacked Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Khmelnytskyi, Poltava Oblast, Vinnytsia Oblast, Lviv Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast, Odesa, and other regions of Ukraine.
The biggest was the attack on the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant (HPP) in Zaporizhzhia. This is one of the largest and most powerful hydraulic structures in Ukraine. A rocket attack on the Dnipro HPP resulted in damage to two stations and a dam that are part of its structure.
Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Energy Research Center, says that by winter, Ukraine needs to restore at least 25-30% of the damaged heat generation: «We need to fully involve imports. Also, before winter, we need to restore as much as possible from coal generation, from hydro generation, and build facilities in gas generation as much as possible.»
At the same time, according to the Minister of Energy Herman Galushchenko, it is not appropriate to make any predictions about the difficulty of the next winter for the energy industry of Ukraine. In his opinion, now no one will be able to say with which generation Ukraine will end up in the winter: «Actually, everything looks comforting, because the system, despite the Russian strikes, is intact.»
The BBC predicts that Ukrainians can spend up to 20 hours a day without electricity or heating in winter.
In addition, on the night of June 22, the Russians launched missile attacks on critical infrastructure facilities in various regions of Ukraine. As a result of anti-aircraft combat, 25 air targets were shot down, but energy facilities in Zaporizhzhia and Lviv regions were still damaged. Also, as a result of an enemy attack on one of the facilities, two energy workers were injured.