Two major power plants in western Ukraine nearly destroyed — DTEK
The March 22 Russian missile attack has severely damaged Ukraine’s Burshtyn Thermal Power Plant (TPP) in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and the Ladyzhyn TPP in Vinnytsia Oblast, according to the country’s largest power utility company DTEK.
"We lost 50% of our generation capacity,” DTEK Executive Director Dmytro Sakharuk said in interview with Ekonomichna Pravda an on March 27.
“Two of our power plants were damaged: Burshtyn and Ladyzhyn. All units of Burshtyn TPP and all units of Ladyzhyn TPP were damaged."
According to Sakharuk, the sections of the two power plants are between half- and completely destroyed.
"Overall, there is very serious destruction throughout the country that will take months to repair. Maybe one or two units will come back online sooner, but in general it will take 6, 12, 24 months or even longer," he said, noting a more exact timeframe will be available once damage assessments are complete.
Critical equipment, such as transformers, is urgently needed to begin repairs.
"We currently have some equipment in stock, but there is nowhere to put it because of the extensive destruction. In some cases, we will have to build turbine halls almost from scratch."
Preliminary estimates suggest that the destruction of major equipment alone amounts to approximately $200 million, in addition to the $80-100 million required for repairs.
"The scale of destruction is colossal, so the [utility] companies will not be able to recover without the support of international donors," Sakharuk said.
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