Several cities in Ukraine announced on Wednesday that they had broken heat records. These temperatures are all the harder to bear given that the country is already experiencing electricity restrictions: several Russian attacks have devastated the Ukrainian energy grid. On Wednesday, the Ukrainian Energy Ministry said in a statement that consumption, due to the high temperatures, is expected to reach a level exceeding ” widely » the remaining capacities of Ukrainian power plants.
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With our correspondent in kyiv, Stephane Siohan
For several weeks now, the electricity deficit has been palpable in kyiv, with power cuts lasting several hours a day, more or less well planned and announced in advance by the public operator Ukrenergo. But for several days, the situation has been much more critical, especially since the arrival of a heat wave across the country, with temperatures that have been close to 40 degrees in kyiv for a week, even hotter in the south and east of the country.
In this context, electricity consumption is increasing, particularly due to the use of air conditioners. kyiv had asked in June to turn off air conditioning in public buildings and called on regional authorities to limit public lighting to reduce the pressure on the network, AFP reports. However, many districts of the capital are without electricity almost permanently. The suburbs are supplied with electricity only four to six hours a day, which makes people’s lives very difficult.
Shops and some buildings are being supported by generators. Traffic lights are out and elevators are no longer working. Phone and Wi-Fi coverage sometimes stops after two hours because telecom operators do not have sufficiently powerful batteries.
And while the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy has stepped up its electricity imports, Sweden announced on Thursday, July 18, the sending of thirteen emergency diesel generators to kyiv. For example, the generators could supply electricity to a hospital or be used within the electricity grid to better manage outages. “, said Swedish Energy Minister Ebba Busch, quoted in a statement.
Half of Ukraine’s energy capacity destroyed
Ukrainian power plants have been targeted by waves of Russian strikes that have destroyed half of the country’s energy capacity, the president says Volodymyr Zelensky.
Read alsoMassive Russian bombing of energy infrastructure in Ukraine
If the thermal power plants damaged in the spring are not repaired and protected from further bombing, industry experts believe the situation could be even worse next winter, when entire cities will find themselves disconnected and completely in the dark.
To prevent this, kyiv is calling on its allies to help it rebuild its electricity network, a project that requires significant investment, and to provide it with more anti-aircraft defense equipment to counter Russian bombing.