Ukraine: Ukraine is facing lengthy and costly repairs to its energy infrastructure after repeated strikes have damaged key equipment across the country. In the Odesa region alone, Russian forces targeted 31 power substations last year, with several facilities hit more than once, according to DTEK Odesa Electric Networks.
Dmitry Grigoriev, the company’s chief executive, said both substations and generation facilities have been attacked, leading to serious electricity shortages. He explained that while the government is trying to rely on imported power, available supplies are not sufficient. As a result, temporary disconnections are used to spread limited electricity more evenly among customers.
Repairing or rebuilding damaged infrastructure is expensive and slow. Grigoriev said the cost of rebuilding a single substation is around $12 M (€10 M), with underground installations costing even more. While placing substations underground would offer better protection, high construction costs and limited space in urban areas make this option unrealistic in many locations.
Replacing destroyed transformers presents an additional challenge. Manufacturing and delivering a new transformer from an international supplier now takes around a year, compared with six to eight months in peacetime. Many domestic factories that previously produced transformers have either been destroyed or are located in occupied territories.
Grigoriev noted that transformers are made to order and tailored to specific requirements, meaning there are no spare units readily available, even elsewhere in Europe.
Source: Ukraine Business News
