Power consumption in Ukraine growing because of heat - Ukrenergo

MOSCOW. June 28 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian national power grid operator Ukrenergo anticipates the heat to prompt electricity consumption in the country to grow 2.5% on Friday afternoon and in the evening compared to the same hours on Thursday, June 27, Ukrainian media reported with reference to the company.

Ukraine has been receiving emergency assistance from the Polish, Slovak, and Romanian power systems since Thursday to replenish reserves and partly cover the shortage, it said.

Ukraine also plans to import a total of 31,390 MWh of electricity on a commercial basis, 10% more than on Thursday, from Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Moldova, at up to 1,649 MW during certain hours, which is close to the maximum allowed transmission capacity.

However, in view of considerable damage caused to Ukraine's power infrastructure, these measures are not enough to keep the system balanced, and therefore, Ukrenergo's dispatch center has to limit consumption by both industrial customers and households round the clock. It has also called for using electricity economically when it is available according to outage schedules.

As reported earlier, electricity consumption growth by 2%-3% is equivalent to putting a single thermal power plant unit into operation.

As many as 459 communities across Ukraine have no electricity for various reasons on Friday, Ukrenergo said.

In particular, a thunderstorm cut off power supply to 9,824 customers in 17 communities in the Zakarpattia region, the Energy Ministry said.