By KYIV. Nov 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – By now, electricity generation in the country covers 70% of needs, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said.
"Despite the constant shelling of our energy system, it remains integrated. All regions of Ukraine are powered, except for Kherson region. Currently, electricity generation in the country covers 70% of consumption needs, and 30% is a deficit, corrected by consumption restrictions," he said at a government meeting on Tuesday.
According to the prime minister, work is now proceeding as follows: Ukrenergo brings to the regional energy companies the volumes of consumption that can be supplied from power plants to a particular region, and then the regional energy companies determine who will be turned off in order to comply with the established limits.
"Now the regional energy companies face two tasks: not to exceed the limits provided by Ukrenergo, because that is why emergency power outages have to be applied. And, secondly, to minimize the uneven disconnection of consumers. What exactly is meant: we will not allow that in some houses there is no light for 20-30, and sometimes 40 hours, while others have light around the clock. This is a matter of justice," Shmyhal said.
In addition, he asked the local authorities to join the communication and explain to people why some houses are not turned off, for what reasons, with which critical infrastructure facilities they are connected.
"Yes, the situation is difficult, there is a deficit. But with a deficit in the system of 30%, grid costs and priority supply of critical infrastructure for the population in each region, 50-60% remains to cover needs. This is enough to evenly distribute the load of forced power outages among all consumers so that people have the light for at least five-six hours a day," Shmyhal stated.
