REUTERS
Ukrenergo state company, operator of Ukraine’s united energy grid, and Energorynok state enterprise intend to sign in November the agreements on mutual emergency aid with five neighboring states – Moldova, Belarus, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, according to Ukrenergo acting chief Yuriy Kasich.
"I believe, these deals will be signed before the start of the heating season," he said during a briefing on Thursday.
Kasich added that an agreement on emergency assistance between Ukraine and Russia has been signed long ago. A similar agreement was sealed with the operator of the Polish energy system on August 17, 2015, earlier than with the other neighbors, due to the extreme heat wave in Poland which resulted in electricity shortage.
Kasich also elaborated on different types of power outages noting that the media often speculate on this issue.
According to him, Ukrenergo is drafting a schedule of limited electricity consumption, “just in case.” The consumers might experience up-to-two-hour power outages during the heating season, in the period from 08:00 to 22:00.
"But if the energy companies fulfill their plans [for the accumulation of coal], then everything will be fine," said Kasich, adding that there is nearly 1.7 million tonnes of coal in storages of the thermal power plants today, while the necessary volume amounts to 2.7 million tonnes.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the operators of power systems of Poland and Ukraine signed an agreement on August 17 on the supply of electricity in Poland. Under this agreement, Ukraine was selling electricity in August at a price of 7.5 cents per KWh.
However, due to own power deficit, Ukraine is forced to import electricity from Russia, from time to time. In September, Ukraine will be buying Russian electricity at a price 5.6% higher than in in August, 2015.