By KYIV. May 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the Energy Security Project (ESP), transferred 137 generators with a capacity of 7 to 100 kW to the utility company Kyivteploenergo for a total amount of about UAH 40 million.
“USAID Energy Security Project was one of the first to start systematic supply of generators for Kyiv in the face of missile attacks on critical infrastructure facilities,” the company said in a press release on Friday.
As company said, some 38 out of 137 generators ensured the uninterrupted operation of the heat-generating equipment of 38 boiler houses in Kyiv.
“This is about 25% of all heat sources managed by Kyivteploenergo. In total, the generators provided by USAID through ESP make it possible to supply heat and hot water to more than 160 residential buildings, 30 hospitals and 25 educational institutions and more than 220 departmental buildings,” according to the document.
As Kyivteploenergo noted, another 15 generators provided backup power to the company’s generation facilities and were used to ensure dispatching and uninterrupted communications. The remaining 84 generators were distributed among the repair teams, which, during the heating season, repaired about 40 damage to heating networks in all districts of the city every day.
“This assistance from USAID, provided through ESP, allowed Kyivteploenergo to continue to produce heat, reduce interruptions in the supply of heat and hot water to the homes of Kyiv residents and for the needs of critical infrastructure facilities in the capital during the 2022/2023 heating season,” the company said.
Director of Kyivteploenergo Vasyl Derevytsky said the company first of all equipped boiler rooms provided by USAID with generators that heat hospitals, important social institutions and residential buildings, due to which they were able to receive heat off-line.
“We are grateful to the U.S. government and USAID for their support in these hard times… We leave generators at boiler houses to increase the stability of heat supplies to our customers and quickly respond to security challenges,” Derevytsky said.
According to the document, Kyivteploenergo staff quickly mastered the algorithms for connecting boilers to generators.
“During emergency blackouts, we were constantly on standby. If at night, we turned on telephone flashlights and quickly switched power from the generator so that the pumps turned on and the system started operating. We had to act quickly, because if the temperature of the boiler rose, it would need to be cooled, drain the water into the drainage and start from scratch,” boiler typist at Vokzalna 12 boiler house Tamara Kuzmenko said.
In turn, according to director of Darnytsia orphanage Olena Hrybovska, the USAID generator for the boiler house serving that institution made it possible to provide heat and hot water to 75 children with special needs throughout the winter period.
“The generator was turned on twice a day – in the morning and in the evening. We had heating and hot water throughout the winter, despite durable blackouts. It was warm for children and staff,” she said.
