The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has handed over to Luhansk Energy Association LLC the dedicated equipment for over UAH 7.7 million through the Energy Security Project. USAID is creating the necessary conditions to ensure uninterrupted energy supply for over 340,000 household and 8,000 commercial customers in the Ukraine’s government-controlled territory of Luhansk Oblast, and thus contributing to strengthening of Ukraine’s energy security.
There are about 300 kilometers of power lines on the line of contact, which are operated by Luhansk Energy Association (LEA) LLC. Risks in this area, both for personnel and equipment, are higher, as well as the responsibility for ensuring uninterrupted power supply to strategic and critical infrastructure facilities. On a daily basis, the LEA employees perform routine and emergency work to repair failures and to promptly restore power supply.
According to Sukru Bogut, the Senior Energy Advisor to the USAID Mission in Ukraine, “because of the armed conflict, the only energy distribution operator in Luhansk Oblast has lost significant tangible assets. USAID has responded to the request from Luhansk Energy Association (LEA) to provide a dedicated equipment needed to maintain existing infrastructure and to protect workers engaged in maintenance of power networks. The equipment being currently donated by USAID to LEA LLC will help to protect the critical infrastructure in eastern Ukraine, to strengthen Ukraine’s energy security and to improve electricity supply quality for customers.”
The list of dedicated equipment donated by USAID to the sole electricity distribution operator in Luhansk Oblast includes everything needed to identify the location of network failures and to remove such failures.
The list of transferred equipment includes also multifunctional measuring devices, power quality analyzers, power transformer parameter meters, theraometers, megohmmeters, AC millivoltmeters, digital multimeters, voltampermeters and phase meters, technical frequency generators, digital oscillometers, AC bridges, audio frequency generators, microhmmeters, voltmeters, multimeters, digital reflectometers, mains analyzers and FLIR T860 thermal imager for energy audit. And in addition – powerful chainsaws and brush cutters for clearing the routes of transmission lines, and protective outerwear suits to perform electric arc risk related work.
According to Volodymyr Hrytsai, the Acting Director of Luhansk Energy Association LLC, “the received equipment will enable to automate the required tasks and provide the means to conduct diagnostic tests remotely, reducing the need for staff to visit sites in potentially dangerous areas along the line of contact.”
The equipment acquired for the funds of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Energy Security Project (ESP), will be used by the Luhansk Energy Association to promptly repair power network failures, to restore and improve power supply as well as to refine on the commercial electricity metering.