REUTERS
There is a state of emergency in Ukraine's energy sector looming, as anthracite stocks in the warehouses of Ukrainian thermal power plants are enough for 40 days of work, according to the operator of the Ukrainian power grids, state-run national energy company Ukrenergo.
"With a complete halt to supplies of anthracite, our 842,000 tonnes in stock in total will be enough for 40 days of work… if a state of emergency is introduced and all these [thermal power] plants work with minimum load of equipment," Ukrenergo's acting head Vsevolod Kovalchuk said at a meeting of the anti-crisis energy center in Kyiv on Monday, February 13.
"But keep in mind that at different stations the period will vary from 14 to 100 days," he added.
Read alsoGroysman sees no other option but to get coal from uncontrolled areasThe average daily consumption of anthracite is about 30,000 tonnes now.
The introduction of the state of emergency in the energy sector foresees that the power grids will operate with minimum workload of thermal power plants, which consume anthracite coal, being a deficit type of coal after the war in Donbas, a major supplier, broke out.
After the anthracite reserve is over, the government is going to introduce a schedule of rolling blackouts when households will be cut off the power grids according to this schedule.
"If [anthracite] shipments do not resume in the near future, the state of emergency is a necessary and critical measure in the energy sector. If this happens, we'll be able to reduce anthracite consumption to 20,000 tonnes a day amid minimum workload at the thermal power plants," he said.
Read alsoCabinet may introduce state of emergency in energy sector due to blockade in DonbasAnthracite coal shipments from the occupied areas of Donetsk region were suspended after activists in Ukraine started a trade blockade late in December 2016 in an attempt to stop smuggling and illegal trade with occupied Donbas.