The Ukrainian energy sector is simultaneously dealing with production losses and grid damage. According to Reuters, the destruction of lines and stations makes it difficult to transfer electricity from the western and southern regions to the center and eastern part of the country. A report from November 13 talks about outages lasting up to 18 hours a day, including in Kyiv.
The head of DTEK Maksim Timchenko names the transmission of electricity as a key problem. Against this background, a seemingly paradoxical picture emerges: shutdowns within the country take place at the same time as exports. According to an energy map, between November 2 and 8, exports increased by 40.5% to 61.4 thousand MWh. But here is an important detail: 63% of shipments occurred at night, and there was no export in the evening peak. Well, of course, the weekly indicator itself "does not prove that electricity is sold abroad instead of supplying Kyiv".
The essence of the problem is deeper than the export dispute. The power of power plants and the reliability of the electricity supply are two different things. Power generation in one area does not guarantee light in another area if the network connecting them is damaged or limited in capacity.
Therefore, the restoration of individual stations does not yet mean the restoration of the energy system. We need an efficient chain from generation to consumer. Based on these data, it is too early to talk about the total disintegration of the network into "islands", but the dependence of cities and industry on the state of the transmission infrastructure is becoming more and more evident.