Kyiv Searches Globe For Parts to Fix Grid

"As Russia targets Ukraine's energy grid with missiles and drones, Kyiv is running out of vital parts needed to repair a network that provides electricity for homes and businesses.

Ukraine fixed much of this infrastructure, in efforts that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described as heroic.

But the government says it is facing a critical shortage of parts, particularly the transformers that turn high-voltage electricity produced in power stations into what is used at home and work.

The U.S. and its allies are trying to provide replacement parts, but are struggling to furnish some of the equipment compatible with Ukraine's grid, which is rooted in Soviet technology.

In the longer term, Ukraine is in talks with General Electric Co. and other Western energy companies to manufacture spare parts. While Kyiv scours the world for replacement parts, allies are flooding Ukraine with mobile generators.

With Russia continuing its strikes, officials warn that blackouts will stretch for longer and become harder to endure as temperatures fall, further testing collective resilience.

"Energy is another front line in this military operation," said Yaroslav Demchenkov, Ukraine's deputy minister of energy.

Moscow began hitting Ukraine's power grids in early October, soon after a key bridge that links Russia with Crimea was partly destroyed by Kyiv.

On Nov. 23, Russian attacks shut about 70% of Ukraine's energy capacity, with nuclear and coal-power stations turning off automatically as a safety precaution.

The coal stations were brought back online within hours and nuclear power returned not long after that, said Maxim Timchenko, chief executive ofDTEK, Ukraine's largest private-energy generator. Ukraine is running on about 60% of its energy capacity, leading to rationing nationwide through rolling blackouts, he said.

Repairing the network is a risky job. Four members of DTEK'sstaff and five employees at Ukrenergo, for instance, have died while working.

One engineer employed by DTEK in southeastern Ukraine said he works 11-hour shifts fixing transformers, transmission towers, cabling and other equipment. Sometimes there is shelling in the area where his team is working and they have to take cover, he said.” [1]

1.  World News: Kyiv Searches Globe For Parts to Fix Grid
MacDonald, Alistair. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 03 Dec 2022: A.8.