Anthony Loyd, a war correspondent for The Times, witnessed firsthand the devastating aftermath of russian missile strikes on a DTEK thermal power plant in western Ukraine. His recent article, "Winter is coming: how will war-weary Ukraine keep the lights on?", provides a look at the challenges facing Ukraine's energy sector as it grapples with ongoing attacks and the approaching winter months.
Maxim Timchenko, CEO of DTEK, said: "Ever since the start of the full-scale invasion, the russians made it an absolute priority to destroy our energy grid." He explained the evolution of russian attacks, saying: "At first they just wanted to cut the way we transmitted power between our generation sources and places of consumption. Then in March this year they started destroying generation locations."
The article highlights the significant damage inflicted on Ukraine's power infrastructure, with the country losing more than half of its power generation capacity compared to last winter. DTEK, as a major player in Ukraine's energy sector, has been at the forefront of efforts to repair and protect critical infrastructure. Timchenko emphasised the challenge of defending against large-scale attacks: "We will always have a shortage of air defence munitions and systems. If the russians launch hundreds of missiles and drones at once, then none of the systems can cope with such an intensive attack."
In response to these threats, DTEK is actively pursuing strategies to enhance the resilience of Ukraine's power grid. Timchenko highlighted the company's investment in renewable energy sources, particularly wind power, as a means of creating a more distributed and difficult-to-target energy generation network. "Wind turbines are dispersed," he explained. "There is no sense launching a missile against a turbine of six megawatts."
Despite the enormous challenges, Timchenko remains "responsibly optimistic" about Ukraine's ability to maintain power supply through the winter. He said: "The russians cannot destroy everything in one attack, or two attacks, or in however many attacks they launch. They will not switch off our country."
For the full article and more details on Ukraine's energy situation visit The Times.
