Nuclear generation currently covers up to 60% of the country's electricity consumption, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said on Aug. 8.
"Everyone understands that nuclear power is needed. Everyone understands that thanks to nuclear power, the whole country has been living without electricity supply restrictions for 10 days now," Halushchenko said.
Following several large-scale Russian attacks on Ukraine's power grid, state-owned energy operator Ukrenergo was forced to introduce rolling blackouts across Ukraine in May, intensifying them in July due to an abnormal heat wave.
The Energy Ministry expects that Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will soon consider a draft law on completing two power units at Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Station, which will add 2.2 GW of capacity to the Ukrainian power grid.
In early July, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated the losses of the Ukrainian energy sector due to Russian strikes at $56.5 billion.
Due to dwindling energy supplies caused by Russian attacks, Ukraine's largest privately-owned energy provider, DTEK, has warned that Ukrainians may only have electricity for 6-7 hours per day in the upcoming winter.
In a "worst-case" scenario in which Ukraine is unable to repair damaged energy facilities and prevent future attacks, Ukrainians could experience up to 20 hours of blackouts a day, DTEK Executive Director Dmytro Sakharuk told the Kyiv Independent in an interview in June.
According to DTEK, Russia had attacked the company's thermal power plants more than 180 times since the start of the full-scale invasion, resulting in the loss of 90% of its capacity.
Kateryna Hodunova
