Ukraine faces challenging winter: Ukrenergo outlines worst-case scenario

The winter of 2024-2025 is expected to be one of the toughest for Ukraine compared to the past three years. Ukrenergo, the national energy company, is preparing for several possible scenarios, with the worst-case scenario involving power outages of up to eight hours, acting head of Ukrenergo, Oleksiy Brekht, said in an interview with the project Karpyak on Suspilne.

The worst-case scenario being considered by Ukrenergo involves the continuation of Russia's massive attacks on infrastructure, transmission networks, and generation facilities.

"Under this scenario, given the current level of electricity imports, we may face power restrictions during critical, cold days, amounting to two rounds of scheduled outages, not exceeding eight hours," said Brekht.

In the spring of 2024, Ukraine lost 9 GW of generating capacity due to Russian attacks, equivalent to the summer electricity consumption of the Netherlands or the nighttime electricity consumption of Ukraine in the summer.

According to Brekht, this is a significant loss. Ukrenergo plans to restore these capacities.

The European Union plans to cover more than 25% of Ukraine's energy needs for the upcoming winter.

Residents of the frontline Zaporizhzhia Oblast may be left without electricity this winter.