Resolving the issue of electricity shortage: Zelenskyy announced plans to build 1 gigawatt of generation this year

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin. Photo NikVesti

Ukraine plans to build 1 gigawatt of shunting gas generation capacity by the end of the year, as well as another 4 gigawatts in the following years.

This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, NikVesti reports.

According to the head of state, Russian shelling has already destroyed nine gigawatts of capacity in Ukraine, which is a significant loss, considering that the peak of energy consumption in Ukraine last winter was 18 gigawatts.

«Currently, Ukraine is suffering from the most destructive form of the Russian vision of energy as a weapon. As a result of the strikes of Russian missiles and drones, 9 gigawatts of power have already been destroyed. Despite the fact that the peak of energy consumption in Ukraine last winter was 18 gigawatts. So the half now doesn't exist. What is 9 gigawatts? Berlin is about 2 gigawatts of demand. Munich — somewhere up to 3 gigawatts. We have already lost several times more generation than the energy consumption of large cities. 80% of thermal generation in Ukraine, a third of hydro generation, they are simply destroyed,» said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He emphasized the need for international support, including the supply of equipment and financial assistance. Zelenskyy also emphasized the importance of developing highly efficient decentralized shunting gas generation, which in the future will be converted to hydrogen and will be able to balance new green energy. According to the president, European and German companies are technological leaders in this field.

«We are asking you for equipment from your, by the way, stopped power plants and direct financial support. This will allow you to react to the situation here and now. Maintain a normal life. One more element. It is a highly efficient, decentralized, maneuverable gas-fired generation that will solve today's energy shortage and tomorrow will be converted to hydrogen and balance the new green energy. It is in this field that European and, in particular, German companies are technological leaders. It is in this field that we have a clear plan to build up to one gigawatt of capacity already this year. I emphasize again, it is necessary to talk not only about prospects. We need to solve problems today. As part of our conference, we are signing the first contracts,» the president said.

The President emphasized that the first contracts were signed as part of the conference, and the implementation of these plans requires European leadership, export credit financing of projects, as well as the expertise and experience of German communities.

Earlier, the President of Ukraine stated that within the next three to four months, Ukraine should quickly and inexpensively restore all possible energy facilities.

Why are the lights turned off again in Mykolaiv Oblast?

As you know, power outages across Ukraine have returned since mid-May. The main reason for this is the resumption of large-scale shelling of the energy industry by the Russians, which destroyed 9.2 GW of Ukrainian generation over the past three months.

Earlier, the head of the Mykolaiv regional administration, Vitaly Kim, said that the situation with the Ukrainian energy system is bad, but its condition should improve.

The government explained that the outages will last until August-September. And in winter, a deficit in the energy system is predicted even at high temperatures.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the Ministry of Energy and «Ukrenergo» should develop a resolution that would regulate «fair schedules of turning off the lights for consumers.»

In Mykolaiv and the region, outages occur according to the queues to which the region is divided according to the «Mykolaivoblenergo» schedule — there are 6 of them in total. The list of addresses by queues can be viewed at the link.

Also, «Mykolaivoblenergo» presented a search system that should help consumers more easily navigate schedules and power outages.

It is also worth noting that almost all this time the lights were turned off according to hourly schedules for 2 hours in a row, however, on June 4, special emergency shutdown schedules were introduced in Mykolaiv and the region. Consumers were without light for 5-6 hours.

Trams and trolleybuses may not work for hours in Mykolaiv due to the lack of electricity supply when blackout schedules are introduced.