DTEK restarts Luhansk Power Plant, calls for de-escalation

Обзоры по компаниям и отраслям 19.09.2014 Two power units of the Luhansk Thermal Power Plant (TPP) of DTEK had their power lines reconnected in the morning of Sept. 18 after the station’s power-transforming equipment was damaged by artillery fire the day before, the company’s press service reported. Reserve equipment was switched on to restore power supply to about a million residents in the northern part of the Luhansk region, according to the report. Recovery of the damaged equipment will take several months, the statement said. A DTEK official, Dmitriy Sakharuk, said an ongoing threat exists that the station will be disconnected again “if military actions in the town of Shchastia (where the Luhansk TPP is located) and firing from the city of Luhank will continue.” He also called on the warring parties “not to use scorched earth tactics and not to target strategic sites,” according to DTEK’s release. Alexander Paraschiy: The power station’s renewal is encouraging for DTEK, though the company’s statements offer little optimism on the future of the holding’s power generators located in the war zone. The risk remains high of new damage to this or other DTEK sites. In the release, the holding indirectly accused pro-Russian terrorists in the damage done to the Luhansk TPP by hinting the artillery fire came from the city of Luhansk, which is controlled by the terrorists and Russian forces.