Rebuilding Trypillia power plant is futile without air defence systems
Andrii Hota, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of PJSC Centrenergo, Ukraine's national energy company, believes that given the constant danger of Russian attacks, the rebuilding of the Trypillia Thermal Power Plant (TPP) in Kyiv Oblast without providing Ukraine with air defence systems is an "exercise in futility".
Source: Hota on the TV programme Briefing of the Ukrainian service of the Voice of America
Details: The Trypillia thermal power plant, which was completely destroyed by a Russian ballistic missile attack on 11 April, is to be rebuilt, and energy companies have already received offers of equipment from European countries.
Hota said that some of the ballistic missiles flying towards the plant were shot down, but due to the lack of missiles for Ukrainian air defence systems, some of the Russian missiles still reached their target and destroyed the TPP.
For this reason, he said, it is crucial for the sustainability of Ukraine's energy sector to ensure Ukrainian air defence.
Quote: "Anything can be rebuit; last summer, we had a similar situation when these units were not repaired, and some stations did not work at all. That is, we can rebuild everything. We have a very good team, a very motivated team to rebuild.
Of course, it is almost impossible to do this without international partners, so we already have certain promises to provide us with transformers, turbines, and other equipment from European countries, but again, without a sufficient number of missiles for air defence, it will be a futile exercise, to put it mildly."
More details: The Trypillia TPP provided electricity to almost 3 million people and was the largest electricity supplier in Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Cherkasy oblasts.
So far, due to favourable weather, electricity consumers have not yet experienced significant power outages, but blackouts could begin later in the summer, Hota said, adding: "It's hard to imagine what will happen in winter because winter is the most difficult period."
Hota also spoke about the similar destruction of another power plant in Kharkiv Oblast on 22 March by Russian ballistic missiles: "The lack of air defence in all oblasts played a key role."
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