Preparing for the heating season: The Cabinet of Ministers has developed a ‘standard’ and ‘crisis’ plan
The Ukrainian government warns that the country is facing ‘one of the most difficult winters in the history of independence’. Two scenarios have been developed to prepare for the heating season: ‘standard’ and “crisis” scenarios. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Timur Tkachenko during a briefing at Ukrinform.
According to him, all regions are now ready for the winter period, with 82% of boiler houses already in operation. Heating is currently supplied to 70% of residential buildings, 82% of cultural facilities, 84% of kindergartens, 82% of educational institutions and 79% of medical institutions.
‘We have two approaches to preparing for the heating season: the standard one, which we carry out every year, and the crisis one, which we have prepared in case of shelling of critical infrastructure. Each community and each region should have a specific algorithm of actions in case of damage to the energy sector and in case of emergencies. This includes the preparation of alternative solutions,’ Tkachenko said.
He also spoke about the draft energy independence passports for the regions, which defines the need for each settlement to have its own generation – which already exists and which still needs to be developed.
Priority in providing backup power supply has been given to such cities as Kharkiv, Ladyzhyn, Burshtyn, Ukrainka, Dobrotvir, Shostka, etc. Particular attention is also paid to frontline communities in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.
Deputy Energy Minister Mykola Kolisnyi noted that a large-scale repair campaign was carried out this year and additional backup power sources were installed.
Ukraine has also agreed to increase electricity imports from the EU from 1.7 to 2.1 GW, and has gained access to a guaranteed 250 MW of emergency power from the EU.
Kolisnyi stressed that the government has made a decision that allows businesses to purchase up to 80% of imported power for their own needs without the risk of blackouts.
‘Accordingly, we encourage businesses to use imported power for their own needs. The government’s decision allows purchasing up to 80% for their own needs – such companies are not subject to blackout schedules,’ he said.
An additional initiative has also been introduced for companies to develop distributed generation for their own needs.
