Kyiv Leads Regions in Winter Preparedness: Expert Names Main Advantage

Preparation for the new heating season is underway, and Kyiv is best prepared among all regions to ready its energy infrastructure for the winter.

We are preparing in a different way for the first time. According to the specialist, the government has agreed with most regions on funding for “resilience plans” with a distribution of 80% to 20%. Here 80% is the national budget, and 20% is regional. Read also: What will happen to heat in Kyiv this winter: the Kyiv City State Administration revealed its plan of action. Kharchenko noted that most regions have already fully contributed their shares to funding resilience plans, but funds from the state budget have not yet been allocated to them. According to him, this significantly complicates cities’ preparations for winter. “Kyiv looks somewhat more positive in this context. Because the city has greater financial capabilities, Kyiv reached an agreement with the government on the distribution of 50/50. And in addition, the city is implementing certain programs outside these figures, which are also quite substantial. And in all other regions, the preparation is rather challenging,” the expert said. He noted that this year it is planned to do in 4-5 times more than in any other year of the war. “We are preparing for the first time in the way we were always supposed to,” emphasized Kharchenko. Ukraine will be ready for winter better than last year. However Kharchenko warns that most of the ambitious goals that were set this year will not be achieved. It is impossible within a single interseason to complete works that were to last 3-5 years. Moreover, the situation is negatively affected by financing problems, overregulation, and a shortage of engineering personnel. Yet the expert is confident that by the next winter Ukraine will be better prepared than before. Read also: Kyiv is forming a material reserve: what has been prepared for a crisis in autumn and winter. Specifically, as Kharchenko explained, regions are continuing work on creating decentralized energy systems, constructing mini-CHPs, and purchasing cogeneration plants. In Kyiv alone, by the end of the year 200 MW of such capacities should be installed. “Right now, construction is underway for 800 megawatts of cogeneration capacity. At the same time, about 1800 megawatts are already in operation. This is an official figure, but it also includes older gas TPPs. In other words, this is already a very noticeable factor in the energy system. This is very positive,” the specialist explained. He noted that the main challenge now is to prevent water supply and heating from disappearing during winter. The main work on this is ongoing and being carried out with high intensity.

Earlier, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that the capital has already completed 50 and more than a percentage of the works provided by the resilience plan. In particular, power units at 350 MW have been restored, and 1 GW of additional heating capacity has been created. It was also reported that, overall, Kyiv is expected to perform works worth 22 billion hryvnias under the resilience plan.