Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear operator, reports that it will take another 1,000-megawatt power unit offline for repairs in the coming days. This may increase the duration of power outages.
“Considering this, as well as the growing electricity consumption in July, the generation deficit in the energy system may increase,” the company stated.
Acting CEO Petro Kotin explained that this repair schedule will allow for minimizing forced power outages in the coming autumn.
According to Kotin, Energoatom is ahead of schedule with planned preventive repairs of nuclear power plant units this year, as it was last year. He said that over the past few months, the company has completed repairs on three units with a total capacity of 2,420 MW, reducing repair time by 22.3 days from planned.
“As a result, Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) produced an additional 171.84 million kWh of electricity and supported the energy system, shortening the duration of outages in June,” Kotin added.
Energoatom reports that eight units at the Rivne, South Ukraine, and Khmelnytsky NPPs are being repaired this year. Since its capture, no planned preventive repairs have been conducted at the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP.
After several massive Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power system, Ukrenergo was forced to introduce controlled emergency blackouts in all regions of Ukraine. The company introduced emergency shutdowns on 14 May and blackout schedules on 16 May, limiting consumption in all oblasts.
While outages were suspended on 29 May due to increased solar and nuclear generation, Ukrenergo head Volodymyr Kudrytskyi warned that this was only a temporary improvement.
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