«Two hours of electricity per day», — Mykolaiv City Council says it is prepared for prolonged power cuts

Mykolaiv prepares for power cuts, archive photo: NikVesti

First Deputy Mayor Vitalii Lukov said that Mykolaiv is prepared for possible power outages. In particular, they are checking points of resilience.

He said this in a comment to NikVesti.

As is known, the situation with electricity supply in the Mykolaiv region remains difficult. According to Vitalii Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, residents should be prepared for the worst-case scenario — up to two hours of electricity per day.

«We have plans and are ready to open points of invulnerability. All points, both municipal and non-municipal, are marked on the map. We checked them just yesterday, and today, by the end of the day, the administration will provide confirmation of their readiness. Such instructions are regular. We are not waiting for someone to give a separate instruction. This is not because of anyone's statements, but because the Russians are attacking the power system. Shelling is possible at any moment from the first day of a full-scale war, so we must be prepared. The mayor constantly emphasises this. We are preparing as much as possible, because it is impossible to be ready for absolutely everything,» said Vitalii Lukov in a comment to NikVesti.

Point of invincibility, archive photo: NikVesti

According to Vitalii Lukov, in the event of power outages, electric transport will not be able to operate reliably.

«Regional and state authorities are definitely doing everything possible to minimise the consequences of the war, but it is impossible to eliminate them completely. If there are power outages, electric transport will, of course, not be able to operate stably, because it depends on electricity. Even considering that some trolleybuses can be charged from generators and have autonomous operation, such generation is less efficient in winter: batteries work 30-40% worse than in summer. So how can we promise the people of Matviivka regular transport connections? It would be dishonest,» added Vitalii Lukov.

He added that Mykolaiv is «doing everything possible» to reduce the impact of power cuts, but the city authorities cannot influence the schedules themselves.

First Deputy Mayor of Mykolaiv Vitalii Lukov, archive photo: NikVesti

«Because this is war, because there is a bastard. We cannot live on hype, we must be honest and gradually accustom people to this: to honesty, truth and openness. This is how we become stronger. The city of Mykolaiv is trying to do its utmost to minimise the consequences of a possible increase in power cut schedules, but, like the state authorities, it has no influence over these schedules. They depend solely on the objective state of the power system and its ability to withstand shocks. Behind this is the work of specific people who, unfortunately, sometimes die from overwork. Because someone says that they are uncomfortable living, and someone else is forced to work overtime because of this,» Vitalii Lukov concluded.

As of today, the region has received an order to disconnect 10 stages according to emergency shutdown schedules, which are imposed on top of planned restrictions. According to Vitalii Kim, this is due to network overload and problems with the transit of electricity from the western regions of Ukraine to the east, in particular imported electricity.

Earlier, Vitalii Kim apologised to the residents of Mykolaiv for the frequent power outages and noted that it is currently impossible to influence the situation.