Klitschko told municipal TV channel Kyiv that municipal services are already preparing for next winter and studying ways to repair damaged infrastructure and create alternative sources of both heat and power.
He said he has convened a council on the city’s energy security and resilience that includes energy and utilities specialists, scientists, and other experts. The council has reviewed options for repairing critical infrastructure and for deploying alternative capacity in some neighborhoods.
“All experts and specialists emphasized that, unfortunately, the capital’s centralized heating system, the largest in Europe and built for large CHP plants, cannot be fully replaced by local heat sources,” Klitschko said.
The mayor said the city is pursuing alternative projects for autonomous power supply but that they are expensive. Kyiv will seek support from the national government and Western partners.
“Development of cogeneration is clearly important — primarily to generate additional electricity for critical infrastructure and other city needs,” he said.
“Alternative technologies should be implemented alongside modernization and protection of the centralized heat system. This is a difficult task, but it must be done.”
Klitschko added Kyiv has enlisted specialized scientific
institutes to draft an operational roadmap for hardening city infrastructure
against Russian missile attacks.