Over 400 populated areas in Ukraine cut off from power supply - Ukrenergo

MOSCOW. April 17 (Interfax) - A total of 423 communities across Ukraine were cut off from power supply as of Wednesday morning, Ukrainian media reported citing a statement of the Ukrenergo national power grid operator on social media.

Technical problems triggered outages in the Sumy and Chernigov regions. "About 17 communities in the Kiev, Sumy, and Chernigov regions remain fully or partially without electricity because of rain and squally wind," it said.

Power consumption in Ukraine is growing substantially due to colder and cloudy weather, it said.

"This morning, its level was 6.5% more than yesterday. To cover this growth, another three or four thermal power plant units have to be put into operation, but there is no such opportunity now," it said.

Daily power consumption on April 16 reached its peak at about 9:00 p.m. and was nearly 2% higher than maximum consumption on April 15.

Outage schedules in the Kharkov region were extended due to colder weather on the morning of April 17, with about 251,000 households simultaneously cut off from power.

Power consumption limits are still in place for industrial consumers in Krivoi Rog in the Dnepropetrovsk region.

No power consumption restrictions for households have been set in other regions.

Emergency repairs are ongoing at a number of thermal power plants, Ukrenergo said. Solar power plants are not generating electricity because of dense clouds all over Ukraine, and nuclear power plants are undergoing scheduled maintenance.

Ukraine is to import a total of 6,600 MW/h of electricity from Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Moldova on Wednesday, its maximum capacity reaching 884 MW during certain hours. No exports are planned.