Energy under fire: how Ukraine keeps the lights on when networks are destroyed every few days

Almost half of Ukraine’s energy resources today are provided by three large nuclear power plants located in the central and western regions of the country. Amid the war, they remain the backbone of the energy system. But the transmission of electricity — the most vulnerable link — is in a critical state.

Strikes on infrastructure have made the power grid fragmented and unstable. Even where generation is maintained, the delivery of electricity becomes a separate battle.

DTEK under constant attacks

The company DTEK manages several thermal and coal power plants. Most of them operate on coal and are in a high-risk zone. One of the plants was recently attacked by five ballistic missiles.

DTEK’s CEO Maksym Tymchenko acknowledges: some of the company’s facilities are hit every three to four days. According to him, there hasn’t been a single day without reports of new damage to networks or substations.

This is not episodic, but a mode of constant pressure.

Repair as a separate war

Restoring equipment has become a separate problem. What could previously be purchased domestically now has to be sought throughout Europe. Spare parts for turbines, transformers, and control systems are either unavailable or require long logistics.

In 2024, DTEK has already spent about 166 million dollars on restoring thermal and coal power plants damaged by shelling. These expenses are forced and constant.

“We do not give up,” emphasizes Tymchenko. According to him, the company bears responsibility not abstractly, but to millions of families who need light and heat.

Donbas: the toughest section

DTEK’s headquarters are located in Donbas — a region where the fiercest fighting is taking place. It is there that the delivery of electricity has suffered the most. Repair crews are working practically on the front line.

During the war, eight company engineers have died while performing their duties.

“Every day they risk their lives to maintain power supply in this region,” says Tymchenko.

What this means for the country

Ukraine’s energy system today relies not only on nuclear units but also on people who continue to go to work under shelling. Constant attacks on the networks make the issue of energy not technical, but existential.

Light in homes increasingly becomes the result of manual, dangerous, and costly work — not an automatic function of the state.

This is why the topic of energy in Ukraine has ceased to be an industry news item and has turned into a matter of national survival, as regularly reported by NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency.