Long-term shutdown. Trypilska and Zmiivska TPPs are out of commission, and power generation cannot be quickly restored, - energy experts on consequences of massive attack
Following the latest massive attack on Ukraine's energy system, carried out on the night of 7 to 8 November, power outages will be long-lasting for a significant period of time.
According to Censor.NET, this information was provided to the publication "Ekonomichna Pravda" by sources in energy companies.
Long-term blackouts
They confirm that the outages will be long-term.
Substations connecting nuclear power plants to the power grid have been damaged. Trypilska and Zmiivska thermal power plants are out of commission. The shortage will last for a long time — power generation cannot be restored quickly," says one of them.
"No one can give an accurate forecast of the outages today — it all depends on the intensity of the attacks and the damage. But we can assume that the situation will be roughly as follows.
After massive attacks like the latest one, restoration will take several weeks – during this time, the country will be operating in a mode of 3-4 stages of power cuts. Further on, there may be stabilisation to two rounds, and then to one round. This is an optimistic scenario. But again, it all depends on the shelling," says a representative of the energy company.
But this does not apply to border and frontline areas, which will remain in a difficult situation throughout the winter – there, strikes and blackouts may be constant.
Strike on Centrenergo's generation facilities
It is also noted that the night from Friday to Saturday was the most disastrous for the state-owned "Centrenergo".
The company lost all of its generation capacity. Russian missiles destroyed both of its stations - the Zmiivska TPP in the Kharkiv region and the Trypilska TPP in the Kyiv region.
The post outraged the President's Office
According to the publication's sources in political circles, Centrenergo's rather emotional but essentially truthful post in the style of "all is lost" caused a real hysteria in the Office of the President (OP), as a result of which the management of the state-owned company had a not very diplomatic conversation with representatives of the OP.
"They called from the Office and began to ask sharply why they were spreading panic among the population and giving such gifts to the Russians. They said, look how clever they are, they have destroyed everything, now all the stations are 'at zero'," the interlocutor shared.
After the conversation, the Facebook post was updated. The new version was more reminiscent of the usual communication from the Ministry of Energy.
What preceded this?
Earlier it was reported that it would take time to restore the "Centrenergo" TPPs destroyed by Russia, as repairs would depend on the extent of the damage and the availability of the necessary equipment.
Combined strike on Centrenergo's TPPs
On the night of 8 November, Russian troops launched the most massive strike on Centrenergo's TPP.
The company reported that the enemy used an unprecedented number of missiles and drones, which continuously struck the same facilities, restored after a powerful attack in 2024, for several minutes.
As a result, the thermal power plants were shut down and temporarily stopped producing electricity.
