The Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure have massive consequences. Many power plants have already been destroyed or are under Russian control, as a Ukrainian media investigation shows.
The energy supply in Ukraine is under massive pressure due to Russian attacks. On Friday night, Russia attacked targets in the country again, and almost all drones were intercepted, as the Ukrainian side announced. However, according to the Ministry of Energy, a substation in the Dnipropetrovsk region was damaged.
Such attacks have apparently reached a new level. “We can say that up to 80 percent of thermal power plants were attacked, more than half of hydroelectric power plants and a large number of relay stations” for power transmission, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said a few days ago. It is “the largest attack on Ukraine’s energy sector” since the beginning of the war.
And the attacks are having an impact: after Russian attacks since mid-March, the majority of the thermal power plants have been destroyed or are under Russian control. This can be deduced from Ukrainian media research and information from companies.
Capacity significantly lost
The news portal Ukrayinska Pravda reported on the impact. “After the last shelling and destruction of the Tripyllja thermal power plant, the state-owned company Zenterho has lost one hundred percent of its electricity generation capacity,” it said. The thermal power plant near Zmiiv in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine had already been destroyed. Since the summer of 2022, the Wuhlehirsk power plant in the Donetsk region, which also belongs to Zentralerho, has been under Russian control.
According to the largest private energy company DTEK, five of its six power plants are at least severely damaged. Only 20 percent of the electricity production capacity is intact. After the recent attacks, the online portal Ukrayinska Pravda assumes that there are fewer.
The situation is no better at the third operator of thermal power plants, Donbassenerho. According to research, the power plant near Starobesheve in the Donetsk region has been under the control of pro-Russian separatists since 2015. The company’s second power plant near Slovyansk is regularly shelled.
Power plants are important for grid stability
Russia is also attacking hydroelectric power plants. In March, rocket fire knocked out the large Dnipro hydroelectric power station in Zaporizhzhia.
The attacks were primarily aimed at thermal and hydroelectric power plants, as these are important for network stability, explained Ukrajinska Pravda. They could quickly ramp up electricity production in the morning and evening when consumption increases sharply. Thermal power plants burn coal, heating oil or gas to generate electricity.
The three Ukrainian nuclear power plants remaining under Ukrainian control, which ensure base load, are exempt from the attacks. Last Sunday, Energy Minister Halushchenko stated that nuclear power accounts for more than 50 percent of electricity generation.
Regular Power shutdowns only in Kharkiv
Despite the destruction of the energy infrastructure, according to the network operator Ukrenerho, regular power cuts have so far only occurred in the Kharkiv region. The city of the same name was affected by attacks in March, particularly on the energy infrastructure. At times the city of millions was completely without electricity.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, industrial consumers were affected by power cuts, Ukrenerho said. In order to guarantee supply, electricity is imported from the neighboring countries of Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova during peak consumption times in the morning and evening.