Over 1,000 settlements in Ukraine plunge into darkness amid harsh winter conditions

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine’s power grid operator on Tuesday said that harsh winter conditions in the country have led to electricity cuts in more than 1,000 settlements in nine regions.

A statement by Ukrenergo said that the power cuts were reported in a total of 1,025 settlements in the Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Zaporizhzhia regions.

The statement said that regional repair crews are working to restore power as soon as possible, but that these efforts are hampered by difficult conditions.

Ukrenergo further said that the level of energy consumption continues to grow due to the significant drop in temperatures throughout the country, indicating that the consumption on Monday evening was 9.5% higher than on Friday.

“Currently, as of 9 a.m. (0700GMT), the consumption level is 5.8% higher than yesterday's figure, which was already quite high,” the statement said, adding that it happened as temperatures dropped to minus 15C (5F).

The statement went on to say that a rapid increase in consumption was recorded in the regions where electricity supply was restored, which it said created a significant additional load on power plants and overloaded the electricity transmission and distribution networks.

It further said the electricity produced by all types of power plants in the country is sufficient to ensure Ukraine's energy supply, but that the increased demand creates a significant load on power plants that are already working at maximum capacity.

"Meanwhile, most thermal power plants are still recovering from last winter's massive missile attacks, and solar power plants cannot work at maximum capacity due to dense clouds and bad weather," it added.

Ukrenergo urged its consumers to not turn on all powerful electrical appliances at the same time, while also asking them to pay attention to using energy-intensive electrical appliances during specific periods of the day.

The company also said it imported electricity from Slovakia and Romania.