Stanislav Dobtsov shows the installed solar panels that provide autonomous power to his condo building in Kyiv, on March 12.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
Russian missiles have pounded Ukraine’s energy network for three years, and there’s hope that a proposed ceasefire on such infrastructure will provide some relief. But even if it doesn’t hold, Ukrainians have learned how to keep the lights on through some remarkable inventiveness.
Stanislav Dontsov knew that the residents of his 16-storey condominium building in Kyiv had to get creative when air strikes on the city’s electricity system ramped up in the fall of 2022.
The attacks caused rolling blackouts and untold misery. Power outages not only left everyone in the dark, they also shut down the building’s central heating system and the elevators, leaving many elderly residents stranded in their flats.
“The winter of 2022 was really hard and awful. Sometimes we had no electricity for six, seven and eight hours in a row,” recalled Mr. Dontsov, 45, who heads the building’s residents’ association. “We started looking for some solutions because it’s not only about comfort, but basic human needs.”
They tried buying diesel generators, but they were in short supply and too expensive. “So we started to look for some alternatives and we came up with the idea to buy solar panels,” he said.
They worked out the cost, found a local supplier and applied to the city for a grant. Over the next several months, they started buying and installing dozens of solar panels on the roof.
The 72 installed solar panels produce so much power that the condo has become the first residential building in Ukraine to sell electricity back to the grid.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
The rooftop is now crammed with 72 panels that cover almost every centimetre, as well as the walls of the mechanical housing. They produce so much power that the condo has become the first residential building in Ukraine to sell electricity back to the grid.
“We are not talking about an investment to make money,” Mr. Dontsov stressed. “We are talking about the conditions of living.”
Ukraine’s Soviet-era energy network is especially vulnerable to Russian attacks. Cities such as Kyiv have big, centralized heating plants that serve entire neighbourhoods and massive, high-voltage electrical substations. Both are easy marks for Russian missiles.
One large substation in the region serves around 30 per cent of Kyiv’s population and has been targeted by 15 drones and 14 missiles. Several transmission towers have been damaged, along with a number of giant autotransformers, which cost around US$2-million apiece.
And yet somehow the substation’s 29 employees have managed to keep the site operating, albeit at half-capacity most days. Every time there’s an attack, the employees run for cover in a nearby shelter. Then they emerge and get to work, finding new ways to get the electricity flowing again.
“Fortunately, nobody’s been injured,” said Taras, the substation’s head, who has worked here since it opened in 2007. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the staff or the location of the substation for security concerns. “Someone has to be here, so we are here,” he added.
The constant cycle of air raids and repairs takes a toll on everyone. Last November, the site was struck by a rocket in the middle of the month and then again in the final week, just after it went back online. “Just imagine that you built a house from the first brick and you live there, and it is just being attacked and destroyed. How would you feel?” Taras said.
Much of the replacement equipment, including the autotransformers, comes from Ukraine. Ukraine’s transmission network operates at 750 kilovolts, nearly twice the voltage of most European systems. It was built in the Soviet era to send large amounts of power cheaply across vast distances and to big industries.
Just before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine disconnected from the post-Soviet integrated power system that linked the country to grids in Russia and Belarus. In 2023, modifications were made to allow Ukrainian substations to join grids in Poland and other European countries.
One of the substations in the Kyiv region that was damaged as a result of numerous Russian attacks, on March 14.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
The Kyiv region substation draws power at the higher voltage from two nuclear power plants in western Ukraine, then transmits electricity to local distributors who lower the voltage for homes and businesses.
“We’ve learned a lot,” said Taras about repairing the plant. He added that they can usually get it up and running within a few weeks after an attack, something that would likely take months at a comparable facility elsewhere in Europe.
At the condo, Mr. Dontsov said residents were proud that, in their own small way, they’d taken some pressure off the grid.
The solar panels have made the building almost entirely energy self-sufficient. The condo still gets some power from suppliers in the winter months, when the sunshine isn’t as strong. But the panels produce a hefty surplus in the summer.
The solar system supplies electricity to the elevators and the pumps that push hot water to each floor for heating. It also powers the hallway lighting, the building’s WiFi network and its security system. It has six 15-kilowatt batteries in the basement, storing enough electricity for six or more hours at night or in case of a blackout.
The city grant covered about two-thirds of the cost of the solar panels, and the condo unit owners chipped in about $3,500 each.
Residents pay separately for electricity to their apartments, which comes from private suppliers such as DTEK.
The condominium has six 15-kilowatt batteries in the basement, storing enough electricity for six or more hours at night or in case of a blackout.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
Mr. Dontsov said the residents are paying about 15 per cent less for electricity to run the building and whatever they make from selling the surplus power goes into a maintenance fund.
He’s lived here for 10 years with his wife and two children and runs a landscaping business. He never imagined he’d become an expert in solar energy. And he’s not taking a ceasefire for granted.
He wants more buildings to become self-sufficient through solar power so Russia can never again cripple Ukraine’s power grid. “This is how we can stand against these massive missile attacks. Because Russia cannot attack every single small energy producer.”
Taras, too, is hoping for a ceasefire and a peace accord. “I believe everyone hopes for this,” he said.
And when the war is over, all their ingenuity and innovation will ensure that Ukraine has the finest power system anywhere, he added. “Because what we have sustained here has never been sustained by any power system in the world.”
With reports from Kateryna Hatsenko