The expert named the possible causes of power outages in Ukraine in the summer

The heat wave with drought in the rest of Europe will affect the electricity situation in Ukraine. Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University and a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund, told Izvestia on May 22.

He recalled that Ukraine is currently an energy-deficient country. It imports electricity from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania in transit through Moldova. According to him, one of the conditions for the introduction of restrictions in Ukraine will be a heat wave with drought, and not only in the country, but also in the rest of Europe.

"If hot weather sets in the entire region, this leads to the fact that hydroelectric power plants begin to operate poorly throughout Europe — generation at hydroelectric power plants decreases, respectively, electricity shortages begin. If this is a prolonged heat wave, then reservoirs that cool down nuclear power plants are also starting to dry up," Yushkov explained.

He clarified that reservoirs do not have to dry out, they can heat up to a temperature that does not allow cooling nuclear reactors, which causes a reduction in production or shutdown of individual reactors. At the same time, the need for electricity is increasing — people often turn on air conditioners in the heat. Accordingly, this leads to a situation where electricity generation is low and consumption is high.

"Also, as a rule, when the heat is intense, the weather becomes windless, which reduces the production of windward power plants. This is important because Romania, which is one of the main suppliers of electricity to Ukraine, has a fairly high proportion of wind farms. Therefore, such a complex of problems arises," he stressed.

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Yushkov recalled that Ukraine came out of this heating season with record low gas reserves in underground storage facilities. He noted that Kiev faces several problems at once — replenishing gas reserves in storage facilities and for current consumption, as well as increasing its inflow to solve the issue of nuclear and hydroelectric power plants. According to him, this situation is also observed in the European Union (EU).

"All this will lead to higher gas prices on the European market. The big question here is whether Ukraine will choose to turn off some consumers for a while, introduce these electricity supply schedules, or receive expensive gas from Europe. Here the answer is not obvious," the expert concluded.

Oleg Popenko, the head of the Ukrainian Union of Utility Consumers, said on May 21 that due to the gas shortage in Ukraine, a possible power outage in the country is expected in the summer. It will be difficult to cover peak loads in summer if the temperature regime remains at +30 degrees and above for at least two to three weeks, he noted.

On April 20, Reuters reported, citing the former head of the Ukrainian gas transit operator, Sergei Makogon, that record low gas reserves had been recorded in Ukraine. It was reported that Kiev may need to import 6.3 billion cubic meters of gas by the next heating season.