Private Joint Stock Company Pokrovsky Mining and Processing Plant (formerly Ordzhonikidze Mining and Processing Plant, Dnipropetrovsk region) due to a lack of electricity, will presumably continue to stand idle and is building its own solar power plant (SPP) by September with a capacity of 1 MW.

As Pokrovsky Mining's chief power engineer Pavlo Litun said in the corporate publication "For Manganese," power outage schedules have been applied to the plant for more than a month. At first, this mainly applied to the evening time – from 18:00 to 23:00, when city residents return home from work and en masse turn on electrical appliances for household needs, but over time the restrictions became stricter – they began to be applied at night, in the morning, and during the day, depending on the situation.

"The main reason is a critical generation deficit in our networks, their very poor technical condition due to damage to power transmission devices. (...) Therefore, the situation is very complex, we need to respond to it now. I repeat it every day at conference calls with the heads of the plant's departments," the chief power engineer said.

According to him, the plant, first of all, cannot operate fully due to the shortage of electricity and its high cost for industrial enterprises.

"Now, when all production facilities are stopped, Pokrovsky Mining's consumes about 2 million kW of electricity, due to the operation of drainage systems, ensuring local operation of security posts, other workplaces. If we take on average the cost of 1 kW per level of 5 UAH (in May it reached UAH 5.7), then we reach the amount of UAH 10-11 million. We are trying to get out of the situation by providing services to third-party organizations and selling scrap metal that we remove from equipment that is no longer usable. But I would like to note that the cost of UAH 5.7 is far from the maximum price. We are already hearing that from June 1, 2024, 1 kW of electricity for industry will cost up to UAH 9," Litun said.

The chief power engineer said a program has been developed to provide electricity to all units involved in the work in idle mode; another option is not currently being considered.

"Our company makes every effort to supply energy to its facilities. In previous years, we used backup power in the form of potbelly stoves (wood-burning), diesel or gasoline generators – they are installed locally now, so the energy service is already checking their readiness for operation. We also take into account the need for backup power supply to radio stations – in the absence of voltage, as a rule, communication disappears. Therefore, we have set ourselves the task of ensuring that our telephone exchange operates in autonomous mode, so that telephone communication does not disappear in any case," the top manager said.

Additionally, options for ensuring local power supply to facilities are being considered: additional purchase of generators, gasoline, diesel – depending on the power, these measures are now being studied. The issue of building solar and wind power plants is also being studied.

"Wind power plants are not effective in our latitudes. But as for the solar power plant (SPP), we began implementing this new project for us in early April. We studied the experience of other enterprises and decided to try it on our own. We expect to build it by September A solar power plant with a capacity of 1 MW. Taking into account losses, we expect that it will produce up to 900 kW of electricity, which will replenish the plant's general system. Thanks to the solar power plant, the enterprise will be able to receive additional generation and save money," the chief energy engineer said.