Business news from Ukraine

“Kharkivoblenergo” built 25 km of modern overhead lines this year

Amid the hostilities in the region, Kharkivoblenergo JSC is implementing the key tasks of its investment program in the form of new construction, technical re-equipment and reconstruction of power grids and equipment.

“Since the beginning of the year, about 25 km of modern overhead lines have been built, 1134 poles have been replaced, and 5 new power substations have been installed,” the company’s press service said on Wednesday.

In particular, overhead power lines are being replaced in several settlements of Kharkiv and Chuhuiv districts of the region, new modern power poles and transformer substations are being installed. The replacement of overhead lines involves laying insulated self-supporting wires instead of non-insulated ones, which reduces the number of emergency outages, reduces operating costs for repairs, maintenance and disaster relief, and eliminates the cost of tree trimming.

“The key goal of all these measures is to improve the quality of services to consumers and increase the level of reliability of electricity supply SAIDI (the index of the average duration of long interruptions in electricity supply) and SAIFI (the index of the average frequency of long interruptions in electricity supply),” Kharkivoblenergo said.

According to the distribution system operator (DSO), in Sheludkivka, Chuhuiv district, the reconstruction of 5.4 km of 0.4 kV and 10 kV OHLs was completed with the replacement of 238 poles and a new 160 kVA unloading substation was installed. In Sokolove village, 5.37 km of 0.4 kV and 10 kV overhead lines were reconstructed and 287 poles replaced.

In Kharkiv district, which has been under constant shelling by Russian subversive forces for the past month, 14 km of 04 kV and 10 kV OHLs were completed in Peresichne village, 609 poles were replaced, and two new 250 kVA substations were installed. According to experts, the economic effect of the modernization will amount to UAH 4.3 million per year.

“The current state of the grids and their capacity affect the quality and reliability of electricity supply to consumers. Therefore, effective measures include the replacement of overhead lines with modern ones, which involves, in particular, increasing the capacity of wires and arranging new complete and unloading substations,” Vyacheslav Kravtsov, acting CEO of Kharkivoblenergo, explained, as quoted by the press service.

According to him, the investment program primarily includes those projects for the reconstruction of overhead lines and substations with a service life of more than 40 years, and some facilities have reached 70 years.