Winter cold and darkness: regions where there will be almost no light

A winter blackout in Ukraine is not expected, but in some regions, electricity supply may be limited to 2-4 hours a day.

This information was voiced by Stanislav Ignatiev, an energy expert at the Ukrainian Institute of the Future and Chairman of the Council of the Ukrainian Association of Renewable Energy, in a comment to “The Telegraph”.

In his opinion, the most challenging situation is in the Chernihiv and Sumy regions, where the war damaged substations. Of the large cities, Kherson, Chernihiv, and Kyiv were the most vulnerable.

The expert clarified that differences in power outage schedules depend on whether local power sources are present in the region. In places where there is their own generation, residents will be able to receive more hours of electricity daily.

In addition, the schedule changes are prompted by damage to distribution stations. According to Ignatiev, Ukrenergo is trying to balance the situation, but even having sufficient generation in one region does not always allow providing electricity in another due to the destroyed infrastructure.

Ignatiev also emphasized that hard shutdowns can be introduced at low temperatures. At frost levels of -10°C and below, there is a 20% increase in electricity consumption from electric heating, which can overload substations in a state of emergency repair.

Earlier, reports indicated possible 15-hour power outages and the threat of a total blackout in Ukraine. It is predicted that the power system is closer to a crisis state than to improvement.