Kyiv, Ukraine. During the day, entire districts of the Ukrainian capital are disconnected from the electrical network to save energy. The traffic lights stop, suffocating traffic, accompanied by the constant roar of generators installed in front of cafes and shops.
Ukraine, including kyiv, is struggling to cope with a new wave of blackouts after relentless Russian attacks eliminated half of the country’s power generation capacity.
kyiv residents and businesses are adapting to the lack of electricity by using generators, portable batteries and flashlights and even recalculating their bathroom visits. Severe damage inflicted on the country’s electrical system has left millions of people feeling insecure about Ukraine’s ability to meet national demand for electricity after the hot weather months end and the weather turns cold.
“I light my apartment like our grandparents used to do: with candles and little lanterns,” said Rudoy, a 40-year-old Israeli insurance agent who moved from Tel Aviv to kyiv in 2023 after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. from Ukraine. on February 24, 2022.
He said he wanted a new life despite the war, to live next to old friends and reside in a warmer climate, but he had not anticipated the inconveniences of living without electricity. Rudoy bought an apartment on the seventh floor of a newly built 25-story building with no gas system or water supply and is totally dependent on electricity.
“I have to adapt my life to blackout times, otherwise it is impossible to live normally, not even use the bathroom sometimes,” Rudoy told The Associated Press.
A friend from a nearby district often has power when he doesn’t, making his life easier. The work is often done in a cafeteria that has a generator, but there is a problem.
“Even if you find a free table at a nearby cafe, the running generators are very noisy and spread diesel fumes,” he said. “That’s why not many cafes that operate during blackouts are really good to work in.”
Ukraine is struggling to meet electricity demand as systematic attacks on its electrical infrastructure have intensified since March, forcing utilities to ration domestic supplies for the past three months. The country’s top officials repeatedly asked allied countries to provide more air defense systems to protect their power plants from Russian missiles and drones, but tangible damage had already been inflicted.
The blackouts in kyiv are the worst since the first months of the war, when Russian attacks on the country’s power grid caused major blackouts in winter That led authorities to establish community heating areas and hundreds of emergency points where residents could drink tea, recharge their phones and get help.
“As of today, due to missile and drone attacks, we have lost 9.2 gigawatts of electricity (generation capacity),” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in early June. Despite having the capacity to import 2.2 gigawatts of electricity from European countries, Ukraine imports 1.7 gigawatts, Shmyhal said.
In addition to direct imports, Ukraine is working to attract foreign investment to its private energy sector. At a summit in Berlin this month, Ukraine presented investment projects that could enable 1 gigawatt of additional capacity, said Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, head of power company Ukrenergo.
But in the short term, Ukraine’s preparedness ahead of next winter looks very uncertain considering the damage to its energy system, feasible prospects for reconstruction, and electricity demand.
The constant blackouts disrupt the daily rituals of many city residents. Official power outage schedules regularly published by Ukrainian energy operators make it easy to plan your day. But power companies often resort to unscheduled emergency blackouts when the city consumes too much electricity during peak hours.
Circumstances are forcing businesses and homes to rely on alternative sources of electricity and light to get through the day, while the summer heat causes more and more people to use air conditioners. And many fear the situation could get even worse.
Small businesses don’t always keep up and the energy situation changes rapidly every week.
Oleksandr Solovei, the 25-year-old owner of the Informatyka cafe in kyiv, only plans to buy a generator, which normally costs around $1,000, to keep his business open during the blackouts.
In the meantime, you must improvise. “We prepare hot water in advance to cook matcha and teas. Making coffee at times like this is impossible. The coffee machine consumes too much energy,” Solovei told the AP.
A fiber-optic Internet cable and a power bank that keeps the router powered draw customers to Informatyka, where they can work on their laptops. Still, customers have dwindled since the blackouts began.
“We think the situation will get worse (by winter),” Solovei said. “We are already planning to purchase a generator powerful enough to brew coffee, light the space and charge our visitors’ devices. “We are preparing for a tough winter.”
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