Winter 'sternest test yet' for Ukraine energy grid: IEA

(ANSA-AFP) - PARIS, SEP 19 - The coming winter will prove the "sternest test yet" for Ukraine's energy grid since Russia's invasion, with numerous power plants destroyed or damaged, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday. Putting forward a 10-point plan for Ukraine to safeguard its war-battered energy security, the IEA also warned of problems for neighbouring Moldova's electricity supply after Ukraine stops allowing the transit of Russian gas at the end of 2024. "Ukraine's energy system has made it through the past two winters... But this winter will be, by far, its sternest test yet," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a news release accompanying the report. The report said that in 2022 and 2023 "about half of Ukraine's power generation capacity was either occupied by Russian forces, destroyed or damaged, and approximately half of the large network substations were damaged by missiles and drones." With Ukraine having lost more than two-thirds of its electricity production capacity since the Russian invasion, the report warned of a "yawning gap between available electricity supply and peak demand". It urged European countries to expedite deliveries of equipment and parts to rebuild the damaged facilities and called for measures to protect them from drones.
    (ANSA-AFP).