The port of the Ukrainian city of Odessa has been left without electricity due to a transformer failure during repairs that were taking place after a previous Russian attack, as reported Saturday by the Ukrainian state operator Ukrenergo and subsequently confirmed by the Government, which has warned that this is a very serious incident that has forced the declaration of long-term restrictions and could require international assistance.
«The transformer failed this morning at one of the high-voltage stations supplying power to the city while it was under repairs after being damaged by Russian attacks,» the company let it be known on its Telegram account before estimating that the blackout has left approximately half a million people without power for several hours.
Shortly after, the country’s Prime Minister, Denis Shmihal, warned of the seriousness of the incident by confirming that «the scale of the incident is significant» before acknowledging that, throughout the morning, it was impossible to «quickly restore the power supply, particularly in critical infrastructure», referring to the port.
Finally, the chairman of the Ukrenergo board, Volodimir Kudrytskyi, announced this afternoon «the reactivation of the city’s critical infrastructure», in particular its «water, drainage and heat supply» systems, although it will still be necessary to distribute the supply among households to cover other needs.
In statements reported by Ukrinform, the head of the Ukrainian operator confirmed the arrival of a 25-megawatt mobile power plant and two floating power plants from Turkey, although he anticipated that their full commissioning would take «weeks» to occur.
The Ukrainian government has ordered the setting up of a crisis cabinet with the participation of officials from the Ministries of Energy and Interior and the State Emergency Service, as well as the Ukrainian operator, and does not rule out that the Foreign Ministry will eventually ask Turkey for help in receiving barges with emergency supply generators, according to a statement published by the USIOnline portal.
The operator has confirmed that the situation in the city is partially under control but has imposed special restrictions in the town and several adjacent areas. «Unfortunately the power supply restrictions will be longer this time. Currently, it is not possible to determine a specific time when the supply will be fully restored,» it has indicated.
The port of Odessa is a key element in the agreement reached between Russia, Ukraine and the international community to resume exports of Ukrainian grain and Russian fertilizers to countries in need of humanitarian aid. The city is also an important industrial center where a number of companies are still based.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
