Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, DTEK Energy had to restore its thermal power plants after shelling for 41 times, shared DTEK Energy CEO Ildar Salieiev on his Facebook page.
“The power engineers are often asked how soon the light will come back on and why not sooner. But if you remember, we’ve done it 41 times already. This is how often DTEK Energy employees have had to restore the thermal power plants from zero after shelling,”
said the CEO.
Ildar Salieiev explains that being “at zero” means that the TPP is fully disconnected from the grid after emergency and does not produce electricity. It takes a tremendous effort to restore the equipment and restart the power generation in each particular case.
“We have to do it all every time despite massive damage and other colossal consequences of attacks. Our TPPs have been under 180 attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, which obviously takes its toll. The attacks in recent months have hit the hardest. Around 90% of our capacities are damaged or destroyed, there are giant holes all over the TPP buildings,” he went on to say.
But Salieiev finds it the most important that the restoration efforts continue despite relentless enemy terror on the energy grid.
“Our power engineers work around the clock to resolve this difficult situation. The key objective is to restore as much capacity as possible before the heating season, and keep up the work throughout the winter. But the damage is so massive that a lot of the restoration work will have to continue into 2025 and beyond. Complete recovery will take years,”
says Ildar Salieiev.
In 2024, the company is set to invest around UAH 3.9 billion in repairs and restoration works on the damaged TPPs, same as last year.
