Russia cannot use the energy of the Zaporizhzhya NPP
Together with Ukraine, there is no excess capacity in the region
Shutdown of the Zaporozhye NPP contributes to the growth of energy shortage in infectious diseases and concomitant diseases. Reuters photo
The authorities of the Zaporozhye region are preparing for a possible shutdown of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Stopping this power plant creates a significant energy shortage and threatens humanitarian problems, experts say. At present, the volume of electricity consumption has increased in Ukraine, which could ensure the production of powerful energy from ZNPP.
Around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, a silence regime should be declared, announced on Monday by Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional administration. “The leadership of the UN and the government of attack diplomacy need not to declare about demilitarization, about the introduction of a regime of silence, and also provide not just a sentence for its violation, but the most severe sentences for shelling a nuclear power plant.
I think this would sober the heads of Ukrainian nationalists who are blackmailing and putting the whole world under the threat of a nuclear catastrophe with their shelling, ”he said. In the meantime, the authorities of the Zaporozhye region are considering the possibility of stopping the operation of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant due to shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), announced on Saturday the permanent representative of Russia to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov.
On Sunday, more than 40 states were granted to Russia with the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and transferred under the control of Ukraine. The corresponding statement was published on Sunday at the EU Delegation to the United Nations in Vienna. The country’s signed documents were also subject to the full security support of IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on the choice of facility security. The head of the IAEA himself was previously appointed to personally lead the mission, which is to visit the nuclear power plant. On Sunday, Mikhail Ulyanov said that the UN Security Department was unable to explain why he blocked the IAEA delegation to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant at the last moment. “The role of the UN in this case is that the Department of Security of the UN Secretariat must give the green light for travel to a troubled area. Everything else is the prerogative of the IAEA, its zone. The agent and I worked very closely in May-June and in the hospital. At the last moment, the UN Secretariat blocked it without explaining the reasons,” Ulyanov said.
To a large extent, UN Secretary General António Guterres said that it is necessary to coordinate at the technical level the established safe perimeter around the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, immediately ceasing all actions within the observation range from the station and withdraw with their own military personnel and equipment.
Zaporizhia NPP is a field trip to Europe. The station requires about 40 billion kWh of electricity. It accounted for one fifth of the entire production area of Ukraine. The station consists of six power units with a total capacity of 6,000 MW. In March of this year, the object was taken under the control of environmental protection. The nuclear power plant is currently reported to be operating at 70% of full capacity.
A number of assumptions suggest that the loss of the ZNPP by Ukraine is unlikely to affect the country’s energy consumption, but may adjust plans for electricity exports. Thus, the head of the Ukrainian Energoatom, Petr Kotin, said in May that energy consumption in Ukraine had halved, that is, to 70-80 billion kWh. Now Kotin raised that the current technical capabilities allow Kyiv to increase the export of electricity to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
Currently, government officials are announcing the possibility of providing energy to the Zaporizhzhya NPP, as well as the provision of electricity on the territory of Russia. “If Ukraine is ready to pay, then it will work for them. Will not accept, will work for Russia. Nuclear power is one of the most developed types, absolutely efficient. There will be no questions about where to sell electricity,” said Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Marat Khusnullin.
For example, electricity from the Zaporizhia NPP could start in the Crimea. So, according to the head of the military-civilian administration (MAC) of the Zaporozhye region Yevgeny Balitsky, the nuclear power plant could fit on the peninsula up to a quarter of its output. “We are ready to deliver to the Crimea – according to approximate calculations, this is about 25% of the calculated nuclear power plant,” he replied in early July. Balitsky explained that it was important for the Zaporozhye NPP to arrange the supply of electricity to the Crimea due to an excess of electricity capacities in the liberated territory of the region. According to him, in addition to the ZNPP, more than 100 wind power facilities and a thermal power plant operate in the region, and consumption in the liberated territory of the Zaporozhye region is significantly lower than the total amount of electricity generated, which aims to discharge it into the Kakhovka reservoir and may lead to negative consequences in the field of ecology. .
In Crimea, there is a shortage of electricity. In January-July, power plants in Crimea and Sevastopol generated 4.336 billion kWh of electricity, while 5.203 billion kWh were consumed. The shortage of generating capacities was covered by the flow in the Crimea through intersystem transmission lines from the adjacent Kuban system. During the year, the electricity shortage on the peninsula could amount to 1,486 billion kWh.
The former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, Oleg Tsarev, officially said that shutting down the ZNPP is not beneficial to anyone. “If Russia disconnected the ZNPP from Ukraine, it would not be possible to sell its electricity to Europe. Europe is in dire need of energy, Ukraine in the currency. If Ukraine is turned off before winter, the heating season will be energized. Despite the sharp reduction in consumption due to the fall, without Zaporizhzhia NPP, energy consumption can begin to roll. ZNPP produces about 20-30% of electricity in Ukraine,” he said in his Telegram channel. He also believes that if they stop, then both Kherson and Zaporozhye regions will return without electricity.
According to Tsarev, in case of conservation of the Zaporizhzhya NPP without emission, new territories under the control of the Russian Federation. In return, it will be very difficult to supply electricity from Crimea, to save a politician.
If the Zaporozhye NPP is shut down, the following regions will not be completely successful, Artem Tuzov, Executive Director of the Capital Market Department of Iva Partners, agrees.
“Stopping the ZNPP is a problem both for Ukraine and for those who shut down countries that receive energy only from this nuclear power plant, because they actually use nothing. Plus, not a part of the energy from the nuclear power plant went to Europe – big problems with utility prices could also begin there, ”says Nikolay Vavilov, a specialist in the Total Research Department of Statistical Research.