Ukraine's power system gradually recovering after major accident – Ministry of Energy

Ukraine’s power system is gradually being restored following a systemic accident that occurred on Saturday morning, the Ministry of Energy reported.

"Right now, energy workers are working to restore electricity supply. The top priority is the restoration of critical infrastructure," the ministry stated in its Telegram channel.

According to the Ministry of Energy, specialists forecast that electricity supply will return within the next few hours.

"In different regions, the timeframe for power restoration may vary. The gradual loading of nuclear power plant units to their nominal capacity requires time," the ministry explained.

It added that, in order to preserve the integrity of the power system, emergency outages have been applied in several regions.

"The capacity deficit remains very high, so emergency shutdowns are necessary to prevent equipment damage," the Ministry of Energy said.

As reported earlier, citing First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal, on January 31 at 10:42 a technological disruption occurred, simultaneously disconnecting a 400 kV line between the power systems of Romania and Moldova and a 750 kV line between the western and central parts of Ukraine. This led to a cascading shutdown in Ukraine’s power grid and triggered automatic protections at substations. Nuclear power plant units were unloaded.

According to the Ministry of Energy, special emergency outage schedules have been applied by dispatchers in the city of Kyiv, Kyiv region, Zhytomyr region, and Kharkiv region.