Power Outage Schedules Will Function Differently: What You Need to Know.

The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine has changed the guidelines for compiling and applying hourly power outage schedules. The order from the Ministry entered into force on December 3, 2024.

Compiling Outage Schedules

According to the new instructions, hourly power outage schedules will be compiled twice a year based on the summer and winter regime days of measurements by each distribution system operator. The volume of schedules will be no less than 75% of the maximum electricity consumption from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM on a regime day. The schedules will be divided into six equal shifts, each of which must be maintained at no less than 12.5% of the total consumption.

Schedules will also be divided into six equal blocks for each day of the week to avoid load fluctuations when changing shifts. The schedules will be staggered by 30 minutes from one another to ensure simultaneous disconnection of one shift in one block and connection of a shift in another block.

Duration of Power Outages

During the martial law and 12 months after its termination, scheduled power outages should not exceed six hours. The error margin should not exceed one hour, regardless of the air temperature. After a disconnection, the period with electricity must last at least two hours, excluding the switching Time, which should not exceed 30 minutes.

Critical infrastructure will not be included in the hourly outage schedules, as they must have priority power supply. Lists of such facilities will be approved by regional state administrations.

In case of a failure in the energy system of Ukraine due to a shortage of electrical capacity or violation of limit capacities, all distributed generation available in the Unified Energy System of Ukraine will be activated. There will also be restrictions schedules and emergency disconnections of consumers and electricity consumption reduction systems will be applied.

The updated mechanism for hourly outage schedules will be more flexible and controlled. Distribution into uniform shifts and sub-shifts will allow disconnecting a smaller volume of consumers. Furthermore, a uniform distribution mechanism will be applied in all regions, ensuring equal and fair disconnections in an established order.

It should be noted that today, December 10, power outages will occur for both household consumers and businesses.

On November 28, Russia carried out shelling in Ukraine, resulting in hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians being cut off from electricity supply. The situation in the energy sector is complex but under the control of 'Ukrenergo' dispatchers. The system maintains its integrity.