"Unrealistic". Klitschko's deputy says it's impossible to "hide power plants in concrete"
Petro Panteleev (Photo: Kyiv City State Administration)

Kyiv can neither "hide" thermal power plants in concrete nor create an alternative underground energy system, and therefore, in the event of new Russian shelling, long power and heat outages are possible. This was stated by Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration Petro Panteleev in an interview with hromadske.

"We are now living in hourly outage schedules. The situation will get better as we recover. In case of any additional shelling, the situation may change for the worse. We will live in this paradigm this winter. That is, there may be long periods of power outages, possibly heat cuts – we have to prepare for this. This is our reality now," he said.

Panteleyev assured that the city is preparing for the worst-case scenario to the best of its ability.

By the beginning of the heating season, the energy facilities damaged in previous years, when 80% of generation was out of commission, were fully restored.

Almost 300 generators of various capacities have been prepared in Kyiv, and the number of mobile boiler rooms connected to hospitals has been increased (there will be 70 by the end of the year).

In November and December, six of the seven purchased gas piston units are scheduled to be launched to provide backup power to critical infrastructure.

"All measures are aimed at ensuring uninterrupted power or heat supply to key facilities. It is clear that it is impossible to power the entire city with some alternative energy system. If we had another underground energy system in the city, it would be a fantasy, you know? Our city consumes 1.3 GW of electricity, so we would need about 15 more power plants underground," he said.

"It is also unrealistic to hide a CHP plant in concrete. And we need to be honest about this. The third [level of protection], such as a protective 'sarcophagus', exists only in theory. It is impossible to protect certain facilities so that they cannot be hit. We have already appealed to the ministries so that people are not misled. Because it is simply impossible to protect thermal power plants with second-level defense," added Panteleev.