This weekend, the situation is still very difficult in Ukraine, on the energy front, after the missile strike on Friday, which according to the authorities, caused colossal damage to the electricity network. After the bombings, the electricity distribution companies deployed emergency repair brigades on the ground.
With our correspondent in kyiv, Stephane Siohan
Fridayhalf of Ukrainians were plunged into darkness, and if power was restored for 6 million users on Saturday, a large part of the capital remained plunged into darkness, as Ukraine sinks into winter .
In Kyiv, Yurii Herasko is the manager of emergency teams at DTEK, the first private electricity distribution company in Ukraine. DTEK has 30 brigades of emergency repairers in kyiv alone and they are sent to the front line as soon as a missile hits the capital.
” Most enemy strikes target very high voltage electrical equipment. These are 110 or 330 kilovolt lines, transformers, power stations and the entire high voltage electricity distribution network. Restoring the power, it takes a while, you can’t fix it in a snap he says.
Teams risking their lives
The emergency teams are a bit like soldiers of energy. Moreover, several of them have lost their lives, while more than 500 crucial electrical infrastructures have been hit since the start of the war.
” When the suicide drones arrive, we don’t know where it’s going to hit, when inevitably, our brigades are at their workstations, explains this manager of emergency teams to DTEK. We have instructions and the teams know what to do in the event of an air attack: where to go, where to take cover and ensure their own safety. »
The depletion of stocks of repair materials
For Yurii Herasko, the main problem is not the production of electricity in the power plants, but the depletion of stocks of repair materials: “ High voltage switches, transformers and substations passing the current from 110 to 10 kilovolts, to 15 kilovolts and in general all the material for the high voltage lines. »
European companies, such as the Anglo-German giant Neon, provide repair equipment, but this is not enough to meet the needs and Yurii Herasko is convinced that the battle on the electricity front will continue until the end of the war.
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