Ukraine is asking Europe to significantly increase electricity supplies after Russian attacks on energy infrastructure in Ukraine and the destruction of the Kakhovskaya dam, which caused floods in southern Ukraine, Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said Thursday in an interview with AFP, citing Agerpres.

“We ask Europe to raise the electricity import ceiling to 2 gigawatts instead of 1 gigawatt, as it is now,” Herman Galushchenko said, assuring that the Zaporizhia NPP is not “currently an imminent danger,” but needs to be controlled.

Of the 600 square kilometers affected by the floods caused by the destruction of the Kakhovskaya Dam in southern Ukraine, “up to 80 settlements may be destroyed, 20,000 households will be left without electricity and at least 10,000 hectares of agricultural land will be damaged,” Herman Galushchenko said with reference to for preliminary assessments.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “50% of our energy infrastructure has been attacked,” the Ukrainian minister continued, adding that the Russians “are using all kinds of weapons to attack these infrastructures.”

The current limit of European electricity imports to Ukraine is 1,050 megawatts, but existing interconnection infrastructures “allow us to import up to 2 gigawatts of electricity,” Herman Galushchenko explained. “Until now, Ukraine covered 100% of its needs through its own electricity production, but we asked Europe to increase the supply ceiling,” the Ukrainian official added.

On the safety of the Zaporizhzhia NPP: “There is a risk, but it is not immediate”

Answering a question about the safety of Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest in Ukraine and Europe, Herman Galushchenko confirmed that the water level in the cooling basin depends on the water level in the Kakhovskaya dam. “We do not see an immediate risk at this stage, but we are closely monitoring the situation,” the Ukrainian official said. According to him, at the moment, the water level in the cooling pool is 16.6 meters, and the critical level to be able to provide the cooling circuits of the station is 12.7 meters.

“There is a risk, but it is not immediate,” Galushchenko explained, referring to summer temperatures and the phenomenon of evaporation.

Moscow took control of the plant in Zaporizhzhia – the largest in Europe – shortly after the Kremlin launched Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022 and the occupation of entire swathes of Ukrainian territory by Russian forces. The plant is at the center of a nuclear security crisis due to near-constant bombings near it, which Kyiv and Moscow blame each other for.

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