Power consumption drops 5.8% as Ukrenergo limits supply in six oblasts
Emergency repairs are underway after Russian strikes damaged grid infrastructure, forcing hourly outage schedules for up to two and a half consumer queues.
By Marco Kapoor ·
Ukrenergo imposed new power restrictions across six Ukrainian oblasts on the morning of 26 October.
The state grid operator cited Russian attacks on civilian energy infrastructure over the preceding 24 hours as the cause of the outages. The affected regions include Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy. Emergency repair crews began work at damaged sites as soon as safety conditions permitted.
Ukrenergo stated that restrictions must remain in place until the end of the day to prevent overloading equipment damaged in earlier bombardments. The operator implemented power limitation schedules for industry and hourly outage schedules for all consumer categories. These outages cover up to 2.5 queues. A queue represents a group of consumers and businesses that collectively draw a specific amount of megawatts. The Dispatch Centre determines the number of queues required in each oblast to address energy deficits. Under a Cabinet resolution, critical infrastructure and eligible industrial companies that import at least 60% of their energy are exempt from disconnection.
The operator urged residents to use electricity sparingly during the restriction period. "Please consume electricity sparingly during the restriction period! Check the official pages of the regional distribution system operator (Oblenergo) for the outage schedule at your address," Ukrenergo said. The company also asked people to limit the use of high-power appliances between 16:00 and 22:00. This request followed an evening peak on 25 October that was 4.8% higher than the peak recorded on 18 October. Ukrenergo attributed the rise to lower air temperatures prompting consumers to use electric heaters.
Consumption has already declined due to the active restrictions. As of 09:30 on 26 October, power use was 5.8% lower than at the same time on the previous working day, Friday 23 October.
Separate disruptions were reported in Khmelnytskyi and Kherson oblasts. Russian forces attacked an energy facility in the Kamianets-Podilskyi district of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, leading to emergency power cuts. Power supply disruptions were also reported in the Dniprovskyi district of Kherson.
Ukrenergo will maintain the current limitation schedules until the end of the day.
