Almost two million Ukrainians left without electricity due to power system desynchronization

“Desynchronization” refers to when the frequency, phase, or voltage of a generator does not match with another part of the energy grid, which can cause a cascading effect of power outages.

“In total, almost two million consumers were simultaneously left without power in 12 regions, namely Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, the city of Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, as well as in Kirovohrad, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, and Cherkasy oblasts,” the ministry said in a report published by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian service.

“This is the largest number of simultaneously cut-off consumers since February, when, thanks to the efforts of energy workers, in particular nuclear workers, it was possible to add generation to the system and cancel power blackout schedules.”

Temporary blackouts also occurred in neighboring Moldova due to this emergency situation, the Energy Ministry added.

“To establish the causes of mass blackouts and prevent their recurrence, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko instructed the State Inspectorate for Energy Supervision to immediately create a commission to study this situation,” the report says.

“The results of the commission’s work will be reported accordingly.”