In 2023, Ukraine significantly increased the number of backup power sources required to ensure autonomous operation of electronic communication equipment for at least three days in the absence of external power supply.
This is stated in the report of the National Commission for the State Regulation of Electronic Communications, Radio Frequency Spectrum and Postal Services (NCCS), released on Thursday.
In 2023, the availability of generators for Kyivstar, VF Ukraine, Lifecell, Ukrtelecom, Datagroup increased by 43% compared to 2022, to 6,049 thousand units. The availability of batteries increased by 34% to 385.55 thousand units, the report says.
The number of addresses/points provided with autonomous power supply (generators) at the expense of third parties, where the relevant network equipment is located, based on the results of telecom operators’ work with local governments and enterprises, institutions, organizations, business centers, shopping and entertainment centers, increased to 2 thousand, which is 1.25 thousand more than at the beginning of 2023.
In addition, network operators, with the assistance of socially active private sector participants, have created networks of public Wi-Fi zones in many cities of Ukraine, allowing citizens to have open access to the Internet.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock said that Germany will send a EUR6.1 million humanitarian aid package to Ukraine, which includes generators and batteries, the German Foreign Ministry’s press service reports.
“With the winter protective umbrella that we are stretching over Ukraine, we are helping the population to survive the cold season. Not only in the form of air defense systems, but also generators, blankets, tents and batteries. Together with the German Federal Agency for Technical Assistance (THW), we are sending additional cargoes this winter for a total of EUR 6.1 million,” the press service quoted Burbock as saying in a statement published on the Foreign Ministry’s website on Friday.
At the same time, German Interior Minister Nancy Feser noted that another 500 power generators worth about EUR3.5 million would be transferred to Ukraine.
“THW is currently preparing to transport more than 500 additional power generators worth about EUR 3.5 million and has already delivered some of them to Ukraine. The goal is to help cities and towns, especially in areas close to the front line. To support Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, THW has already purchased more than 1,300 powerful power generators (up to 1,250 kVA) and 20 batteries,” Feather said.
She noted that more than 800 power generators and 15 storage batteries have already been delivered to Ukraine, which are used at Ukrainian thermal power plants, pumping stations, large bakeries and hospitals, as well as for decentralized supply to the population.
Preparations are also underway to transport more than 900 heaters, 1,700 winter sleeping bags, winter clothing and a mobile field kitchen to Ukraine. In addition, two drinking water treatment plants will be transferred to the State Water Resources Administration in the near future to provide clean water to the population.
The German Foreign Ministry, strongly condemning the destruction of the Kakhovskaya HPP, announced the immediate delivery of generators, water filters, water treatment facilities, and equipment for the organization of temporary shelters to the affected regions.
“The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine is a violation of international humanitarian law and results in suffering and hardship for the civilian population as well as catastrophic consequences for the environment. We strongly condemn this malicious act,” the German Foreign Office said on Twitter.
“To help, we have already purchased 56 generators and 5,000 water filters, as well as items for shelter, which will be sent to Ukraine immediately,” the post specifies.
In addition, water purification equipment capable of providing drinking water to 60,000 people and dump trucks for garbage removal are being prepared for transportation. “Our partner organizations working in the region are assisting in the evacuation and distributing food kits to those in need.”
As noted, since the beginning of the war, the FRG has allocated more than 16.8 billion euros to support Ukraine. “This assistance includes humanitarian aid, internships, disaster response, stabilization projects and assistance in war crimes investigations, as well as humanitarian demining operations.”
The German government will transfer more than 700 generators to Ukraine to alleviate the energy crisis in the country, 41 of which will be given to food producers, in particular to support the production of bread, milk, livestock products and provide electricity to food storage warehouses.
According to a press release from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which is involved in the distribution and delivery of generators in Ukraine, seven bakeries across the country have already received German generators rated 450-550 kW. This will be a timely and tangible support to restore critical food value chains and provide people with life-saving food.
The press release specifies that the day before LLC “Odessa bread-baking plant № 4” (Odessa) received one of the German generators, provided by the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) with the financial support of the German Foreign Office. Distribution of generators was made by FAO and Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
The company is located in Odessa, where the Russian military aggression at the beginning of 2023 created the most difficult situation with power supply in Ukraine. The enterprise faces constant problems in providing basic activities, as both scheduled and unscheduled power outages disrupt the technological process of baking bread, which also leads to significant financial losses.
“The company is completely dependent on an uninterrupted supply of electricity. We are pleased that thanks to the transfer of this generator we can support Ukrainians and ensure sustainable production of essential products – bread,” the FAO quoted Frank Müller, agricultural attaché of the German Embassy in Ukraine.
According to FAO, Odessa bakery is the largest producer of bakery products in the south of Ukraine and provides bread to more than 58% of the population of the Odessa region. The company employs 910 employees, producing over 100 tons of products daily. The plant’s products are sold in the Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, as well as in Kherson, where no other bakery is operating.
“We sincerely thank the FAO and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy for their assistance in providing our enterprise with a generator from the German government. This help is critically needed for our production. Now in Odessa the electricity is provided for two hours a day, so without this generator we would not be able to fulfill our tasks of bread production, to supply sufficient quantity of products to budget organizations of the city and region: schools, kindergartens, hospitals and sanatoriums”, – the FAO quotes the director of the plant Vitaliy Dobrovolskiy.
As it was reported, Germany on January 10 delivered the first 10 high-efficiency electric generators (capacity from 450 kW) to the warehouse in Ukraine, from where they are distributed among the food producers working in the regions suffered from the Russian invasion and also in the recently de-occupied territories.
In total, the German agency planned to transfer more than 700 generators to support the Ukrainian energy system. Of these, in January it planned to supply at least 25 generators to producers of foodstuffs such as bread, milk, livestock products, electricity for food storage facilities, etc.
Ukraine’s largest mobile operator Kyivstar together with its partners has installed generators in 50 branded stores, in the coming months the number of standalone stores will reach 100, the operator’s press service said.
“To date, the company has already invested more than 350 million UAH to provide the network of base stations with powerful batteries, as well as stationary and mobile diesel generators. More than UAH 5.5 million were allocated to compensate our partners for purchasing generators in stores to provide our customers with constant access to services”, – the press service quotes Kyivstar head of retail sales channels Mykhailo Mykolyuk as saying.
As reported, earlier Kyivstar invested more than UAH 50 million in the purchase of uninterruptible power supplies to support “Home Internet” service to 10 thousand homes and 90 thousand subscribers to stay connected even during power outages.
The shareholder of Kyivstar is an international group VEON, which is headquartered in the Netherlands. The group’s shares are traded on the NASDAQ (New York) and Euronext (Amsterdam) stock exchanges.
Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, has brought the total capacity of generators in its network to 37 MW, of which 20 MW are large stationary generators to back up key technology sites, company president Alexander Komarov said.
“These grid facilities are fully backed up and have enough fuel to cope with the consequences of the blackout. Only yesterday there were 14 outages of technological sites in 8 regions of Ukraine”, – he noted.
Komarov added that in January-February the company plans to increase the number of stationary and mobile diesel generators at other network sites by another 40% to 14 MW.
“As of today, we have 700 stationary and mobile diesel generators with a total capacity of about 10 MW. In January-February, we will increase their number and, accordingly, the capacity by another 40% – up to 14 MW,” – wrote the president of Kyivstar.
According to him, despite of all efforts, the available capacities are not enough. Komarov appealed for cooperation to representatives of businesses that have generators with a capacity of 6 kW and can connect telecom equipment within the campaign “Business unites for victory” to make it work during periods of power outage.
“To date, we have about 400 connections to third-party generators whose (combined) capacity is about 3 MW. And also in the processing of more than 600 more applications, we are analyzing the technical possibility of connection,” – said the president of Kyivstar.
In December the director of the Department of Fixed Internet Development of the Ministry of Communications Yuri Matsik reported that only 7% of 32 thousand mobile stations are equipped with generators and 93% with accumulators. According to him, generators with a capacity of 20-30 kW are needed for the communication center, where there is traffic switching. For the base station it is 6-8 kW.
