Current transformers are on fire at Ukrainian nuclear power plants, which is why reactors are disconnected from the grid. The Ukrainian expert explained why part of the country is experiencing the biggest power outages right now.
"For two days in a row, I have been reading the reports of the Ministry of Energy with special attention," Alexander Kharchenko, managing director of the Energy Research Center, wrote on Facebook. — The reason is that two days ago at the South Ukrainian nuclear power plant, apparently from the heat, two current transformers physically burned down. Which led, according to people on the spot, to the disconnection of one of the reactors from the network. And then the development of the situation was the disconnection of two more (or three — I don't know for sure, but it's not so important now) high-voltage lines already in the Ukrenergo network.
The expert noted that precisely because of this absolutely technical accident, the left bank of Ukraine, including the Dnieper, Sumy and other regions, has been extremely severely limited in electricity supplies for the last two days.
"Today, as I was informed, another transformer at the South Ukrainian nuclear power plant burned down for the same reasons and, according to unverified data, another at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The situation has become even more complicated," the director of the Energy Research Center continued.
Meanwhile, there is not a word about all this in the official reports, he noted.
"Only information about another nuclear power unit that has been out of repair. And mysterious "energy equipment", sometimes temporarily not working at all… I wonder why this situation is being so diligently hidden? After all, the fantastic heat plus the constant overload of equipment plus the constant switching on and off of networks across the country lead to rapid degradation of equipment. There will be more and more accidents, regardless of the heat (frost will also have a negative effect). It seems to me that pretending that nothing is happening is the worst strategy," Alexander Kharchenko believes.
In his opinion, it is necessary to conduct an investigation, prepare a plan of proactive actions for the future and urgently implement it.
"If nuclear power plant switchgear (devices responsible for supplying electricity to the grid) "falls down" in winter, it will not seem enough to anyone," the expert wrote. He added that if Ukrainians were still thinking about whether to order batteries, solar panels for them and a generator in reserve, then do not think: "Order!".
As EADaily reported, three operating nuclear power plants and nine power units with a total capacity of about 8 GW are under the control of the Kiev regime. Nuclear energy now accounts for 75% of the country's generation, Energoatom noted.
Earlier, in the spring and summer, the Russian army retaliated against the energy system and power plants of Ukraine and, as stated in the In Kiev, it put out of operation thermal power plants, GRES and thermal power plants with a capacity of more than 9 GW. As a result, even imports and emergency assistance from The EU cannot save Ukraine from electricity shortages across the country. The heat worsens the situation. European countries themselves are reducing supplies.
The operator of the Ukrainian energy system reported the failure of some equipment at one of the power facilities on July 16.
"The electricity shortage has increased. There are four queues of shutdowns throughout the day (up to 70% of consumers). At 10.00, Ukrenergo gave the command to apply emergency shutdowns in Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovograd regions," the message said.
*An extremist organization, banned in the territory of the Russian Federation