Ukraine’s battered energy grid braces for ‘intense’ temperature spike

Ukraine was braced on Monday for an “intense” spike in temperatures over the coming days, with an eastward-moving heatwave set to heap pressure on the country’s struggling power grid.

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Russian drone and missile attacks have decimated Ukraine’s energy network since Moscow invaded in February 2022, causing tens of billions of euros worth of damage and leading to frequent power outages in the coldest and hottest parts of the year.

Grid operators in at least five regions, from Ivano-Frankivsk in the west to Zaporizhzhia on the front line in the south, announced temporary restrictions on energy usage would be in force during parts of Tuesday.

The state Hydrometeorological Centre said the country would face “intense heat,” with temperatures of 35C-38C expected on Monday.

“The heat is also a serious test for equipment that has been operating under wartime conditions for more than four years and has withstood numerous attacks,” Sergii Kovalenko, CEO of the Yasno energy company said over the weekend.

He said that summer was the peak period for repairing the energy network, battered through the winter by repeat Russian attacks, meaning the grid was already “operating at the limit of its capabilities”.

“That is why in the coming days the power system will be operating in a very strained mode,” he added.

Extreme heat

The heatwave first smothered western Europe last week, sending mercury to record highs and straining hospitals, transport networks and power grids on a continent where infrastructure was not built to withstand the punishing temperatures and where air conditioning is not widespread.

More than 1,300 excess deaths were recorded in Europe since 21 June, according to the UN health agency, including several small children who died in locked cars and youths who drowned as they sought relief from the infernal temperatures in unsupervised swimming spots.

France reported at least 74 drowning deaths since 18 June and Poland said 17 drowned on Sunday alone.

“I’m doing the same thing as everyone, trying to stay in the shade and drink a lot of water,” Susanne, a Vienna resident, told the AFP news agency on a bank of a river near the Austrian capital.

“I just hope that the politicians will understand the situation and will begin to set a course in the right direction,” she said.

On Monday, the Balkans braced for temperatures of up to 40C, with firefighters in Bosnia battling blazes sparked during the heat.

At least 130 million people in Europe were expected to swelter through temperatures of more than 35C, down from 190 million on Sunday according to an AFP analysis.

This heatwave is the most severe ever recorded in Europe, and would have been “virtually impossible” this early in the summer without climate change, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists said.

All-time temperature records have been broken in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as for the month of June in the UK and in Switzerland.