International
Ukraine is committed to cogeneration and private production to face the winter
Less than two years after a first campaign of Russian attacks on the electricity system deprived millions of Ukrainians of constant energy supply for months, Ukraine has become accustomed to blackouts again this summer and is working in a hurry to avoid a second winter in the dark by boosting cogeneration and encouraging private production.
In addition to repairing the damaged infrastructures as soon as possible, and trusting that the new air defenses received will serve to protect them from possible additional attacks, the Ukrainian authorities are installing hundreds of cogeneration plants throughout the country to decentralize production and involve gas companies in the task.
“They are parallel processes,” Yuri Boiko, advisor to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denís Shmigal, and member of the Supervisory Board of the national electricity company, Ukrenergo, tells EFE.
Boiko points out that, if it receives a sufficient boost, cogeneration will mitigate the effects of the electricity deficit on the population: “The more cogeneration is installed, the less charge the central energy system will have.”
The prime minister’s adviser warns, however, that the impact on the situation will depend on the number of cogeneration units that will be enabled in the coming months.
Part of these already functioning mini-power plants have been donated by Ukraine’s foreign partners.
The United States cooperation agency has delivered 91 cogeneration plants that will be installed in 32 cities throughout Ukraine and will provide a production capacity of 56.5 megawatts that will allow part of its critical infrastructures to operate.
The first 18 were installed at the beginning of this month and already generate electricity and thermal energy for Ukraine.
Unlike thermal power plants, which in Ukraine have been massively bombed by Russia to destroy 80% of the generation capacity by this method that the country had, cogeneration plants take advantage of the heat that is released when it comes to producing electricity and supply it to other infrastructures.
The cogeneration units that Ukraine is installing are of a relatively small size and can be moved relatively easily.
This allows them to be mounted next to buildings that can provide heating with the thermal energy they produce when generating electricity.
While conventional power plants are very difficult to defend from bombing, due to their large dimensions and the impossibility of changing their place, cogeneration units can be distributed throughout the territory, reducing the risk of concentrated blows to the generation capacity.
“In Ukraine, a few power plants and a dozen substations are still responsible for half of the electricity generation and transmission. Obviously, five or ten centrals are easy targets for the enemy. When we have hundreds of small power plants, it will be almost impossible to attack them with missiles,” said the head of the Parliament’s Energy Committee, Andrí Gerus, in a recent interview.
As revealed by President Volodymyr Zelensky during the conference for the reconstruction of Ukraine held in June in Berlin, where the Ukrainian electricity sector obtained numerous commitments of Western public and private aid, Kiev aspires to install 1 gigawatt of electricity production capacity by cogeneration this year.
In its eight massive attacks this year against Ukrainian power plants, Russia has destroyed about 9 gigawatts of the generation capacity that Ukraine had.
The Ukrainian gas and oil company Ukrainafta announced this month an ambitious project valued at one billion dollars to install, within three years, more than gigawatts of electricity production capacity through cogeneration from natural gas.
The company also develops wind and solar energy projects to contribute to the recovery of part of the electricity sector.
Another vector to produce more energy and relieve the burden on the power plants and substations that are being repaired is the promotion of own generation between companies, institutions and individuals.
On June 20, Zelenski ordered the authorities to install solar panels, accumulators and smart meters in all schools and hospitals.
The Ukrainian Parliament approved new tax exemptions for the purchase and imports of generators, batteries and solar panels with the idea of promoting the installation of their own generation capacities among citizens and reducing their dependence on a centralized system that remains in the crosshairs of Russian commanders.
The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine announced earlier this month the arrival in the country of about six thousand solar panels manufactured by the Italian company Enel and paid for by the European Commission that will serve to guarantee the uninterrupted supply of electricity to hospitals in five regions of the country.
International
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on American ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand that Washington take back control of the strategic waterway.
“Our Navy and commerce have been threatened in a very unjust and reckless way. The rates that Panama charges are ridiculous,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The president-elect also denounced the growing influence of China in the canal, a situation he called concerning as U.S. businesses depend on the waterway to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“This complete scam against our country will end immediately,” he stated.
The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was handed over to Panama under the 1977 treaty signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control of the commercial passage in 1999.
“It was exclusively for Panama to manage, not China or anyone else,” Trump said. “We would never allow it to fall into the wrong hands!”
“If Panama cannot guarantee a ‘safe, efficient, and reliable’ operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, without a doubt,” the Republican added.
Panamanian authorities did not immediately respond to Trump’s statements. While he will assume office on January 20, Trump has been exerting his political influence in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, which allows vessels traveling from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to avoid the long and dangerous route around the southern tip of South America.
The countries that use the Panama Canal the most are the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.
In October, the Panama Canal Authority reported earnings of nearly $5 billion in the last fiscal year.
International
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.
Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.
Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.
In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.
The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.
International
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.
“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”
The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
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