About energy independence and alternative energy
— When there were constant blackouts in July, of course it was difficult for everyone, including operators. 4 months have passed since then. How have you been able to prepare for what could happen in the winter — the potential long blackouts we’ve been dreading?
— We started preparing for blackouts as early as July 2022. If not for this, the situation would be much worse. Back in July 2022, we placed the first orders for batteries, and in September of the same year, we began active replacement. The only thing is, then we made a mistake (but it was the fastest solution) by buying AGM batteries. They, of course, served, lasted, but now it’s time to replace them with more capacious lithium-ferum-phosphate batteries. We have already replaced 125,000 such AGM batteries.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Kyivstar has made significant investments to ensure energy independence. Starting from 2022, the company has invested more than UAH 1.9 billion in this area to ensure maximum uninterrupted service.
— Will they hold up better during blackouts?
— It will be better. But, there are certain buts. The autonomous operation time of the base station depends on the load and traffic. If this is the time of the greatest load — 9 o’clock in the evening, then, of course, the batteries will discharge faster.
For example, in October there were two long blackouts in Sumy — almost the entire city was without electricity. Some of our batteries lasted 6-8 hours. It was a testing ground for us.
We collect statistics, constantly analyze and adjust our actions regarding the issue of energy independence.
Charging the batteries is also a challenge. After all, they have a certain discharge time, and it takes twice as much time to fully charge them. If the outages are long and not rhythmic, the batteries do not have time to accumulate enough energy and stop working correctly — powering the network elements.
— And I wonder what the power situation is like in densely built-up districts of Kyiv: for example, Obolon, Poznyaki? Of course, if your lights are turned off, then at the same moment, a bunch of people who were sitting on the wired Internet will rush to the mobile network.
- It’s very difficult, to be honest. Why? Any network is calculated for a specific volume of traffic. And if the traffic is several times higher than the standard one, then the energy consumption, of course, increases significantly. Blackouts do cause «overflow» from fixed networks to mobile.
