Recently, discussions of power outages have become widespread on social media, focusing on the injustice, lack of a clear schedule or non-compliance with it, the fact that in some districts or cities the power is always on, while in others it is constantly off. These discussions are heated and emotional, often accompanied by accusations against the authorities.
Let’s find out how much of them are true, how much is unnecessary emotion, and how much is disinformation and enemy propaganda.
To begin with, we need to understand roughly how the Ukrainian energy system works. And why the enemy manages to inflict painful blows on us.
First. This system was built during the Soviet era, and its plans and calculations were and still are in Moscow. Over the past 30 years, it has undergone repairs and modernization, but fundamentally it is the same system. It was deeply integrated with similar systems of all neighboring countries, but mainly with Russia, Belarus and Moldova.
Second. In a very simplistic way, power lines have a maximum power that they can pass through them. And in the event of an overload, they will not withstand and will burn out. That’s why you can sometimes hear in the news that this line can withstand 400 megawatts, and another one can withstand 750. Sometimes the characteristic of power lines is their ultimate voltage, which is why we often talk about high-voltage power lines.
Accordingly, if, say, an infinite source of unlimited power is found in Chernivtsi, this will not increase the power in Sumy. We need to build a new line that will transport electricity from Chernivtsi to Sumy.
For this reason, Ukrainian electricity generation: nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, thermal generation and alternative sources of electricity are evenly distributed across the territory of Ukraine. And the most powerful power plants were built near the largest electricity consumers. A striking example is the currently occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is surrounded by metallurgical giants.
Accordingly, an enemy who strikes with precision also knows these features. And through massive missile strikes, he can temporarily make certain regions of Ukraine have problems with electricity, while others will have an excess of it.
This is not a betrayal. This is not a “deliberate mockery of Ukrainians by the authorities”. Moreover, corruption has nothing to do with it. Problems with electricity arise solely because of the enemy’s actions and the inability to override the laws of physics.
Also, if in a big city you see that your house has no power, while your neighbors have power all the time, this is not a conspiracy by the power company against you personally or your house. There are many explanations for this situation, from the fact that your house is powered by an overloaded line, while your neighbor’s is not, to the fact that a critical infrastructure enterprise, such as a hospital, is located on the same line as your neighbors. And there is no betrayal in this situation either.
Remember that we have one enemy – the Russian Federation. And a lot depends on our moral fortitude and ability to distinguish between fakes and lies, information manipulation and disinformation.
Yuriy Goncharenko, for InfoLight.UA .
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