Russian strike on energy facility derailed part of recovery plans - Shmyhal

On August 20, Russian troops struck one of Ukraine's energy facilities, causing the country to roll back in the implementation of its repair program. The Russian Federation is already trying to destroy generating capacities, preventing their full restoration and protection.

This was stated by First Vice Prime Minister - Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal on August 21 during a session of the Verkhovna Rada.

"Yesterday, as you know, there was a hit on one of the energy facilities, and this sets us back in our repair program plans," he said.

According to Shmyhal, the Russian army is already trying to strike new and restored generation capacities even at the stage of their installation and protection.

The minister did not specify which energy facility was hit on August 20. At the same time, on the same day, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported a targeted attack by Russian drones on a critical infrastructure facility in the capital - in fact, the first such attack in several months.

Due to damage to the facility, Klitschko warned of possible interruptions in hot water supply in the Desnianskyi district and part of the Dniprovskyi district. Specialists began restoration work.

At the same time, Shmyhal said that in general, the Ukrainian energy system is currently operating stably, and planned power outages are not being applied. About 15 GW of capacity is available for the evening peak.

Currently, six of the nine nuclear power plant units in the controlled territory of Ukraine are operating. Three more units are undergoing scheduled repairs.

According to the minister, nuclear power plants now provide over 40% of electricity production, about 25% comes from thermal generation, and approximately 15% from hydropower.

By November 1, the available capacity of the energy system is planned to be increased to 19.6 GW, and by the end of 2026 - to 21.4 GW. This year, about 4.8 GW of generation capacity has already been repaired, with almost 4 GW still under repair.

Shmyhal said that the main generation repairs should be completed before the start of the heating season.

At the same time, Ukraine continues to build protection for energy infrastructure. According to the minister, about 200 second-level protection structures at priority facilities have been completed so far.

At the same time, Shmyhal admitted that even engineering shelters cannot guarantee complete protection in the event of a direct hit by several ballistic missiles. However, according to him, protective structures in many cases allow avoiding complete destruction of equipment and reducing restoration to a few weeks.

Another direction of preparation for winter is distributed generation. Currently, about 1.8 GW of gas distributed capacities operate in Ukraine, of which over 400 MW were connected this year within regional resilience plans.

By the end of the year, an additional about 800 MW are planned to be commissioned. Over 280 installations are currently at the stage of installation or construction.

The best pace of deploying new generation, according to Shmyhal, is demonstrated by Kyiv and Kharkiv oblasts. At the same time, the minister called Kyiv and Poltava region risky and called on local authorities to accelerate construction.

Based on materials: Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, KMDA