By KYIV. Dec 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has said that gas turbine and gas piston mini power plants could be used as an alternative solution for mobile power generation when the existing power generation system is damaged due to Russian attacks.
"This is a very good case. Although electricity production by them is expensive, they are good because their launch time is very short – up to three minutes. For comparison, the launch of a nuclear power unit takes three days, while turning it off takes a month and a half. A heating unit can be launched from the cold state in eight to twelve hours, and from the hot state – in 30 minutes to one hour and a half," the prime minister said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.
He also said that there are such power plants made in Ukraine that had been installed and are resuming their operation. In addition, power plants from the stocks are also being installed.
Shmyhal said that gas turbine and gas piston power plants have small units with a capacity of around 50 MW, however, several such power plants can be launched simultaneously in order to achieve a higher capacity.
"If we put 20 units in a line, we will get 1,000 MW – [a capacity of] a nuclear power unit. Usually, they do not require special human intervention and maintenance, which is a huge plus," he said, adding that such equipment can be used to ensure water and heating supply in big cities.
The prime minister also said that the second field of application of such mini power plants is energy security at nuclear power plants.
"When the grid falls apart and loses balance due to a blackout and everything goes turned off, 100-150 MW is needed to launch a nuclear power unit. We cannot get such a capacity from generators. Thus, we need to find where we can ‘get a light’, and it is exactly gas turbine power units that can help us with this," he said.
According to Shmyhal, the country’s energy system is 50% destroyed as a result of nine massive missile attacks and dozens of smaller strikes. He said that today the energy problem should be divided into two issues: the first one is the lack of power-generating capacity and the second one is the lack of network capacity.
