NEK «Ukrenergo» on Saturday reported that Kiev and seven regions of Ukraine were forced to switch from hourly to emergency shutdowns due to large volumes of electricity consumption.

«Today, on November 5, in the morning, the country consumes more electricity than on working days. Unfortunately, hourly shutdown schedules are not enough to maintain stable operation of the power system. The dispatch center of the NEC «Ukrenergo» is forced to provide the operators of distribution networks (oblenergo) with volumes to limit the power supply to all categories of consumers in Kiev, Kiev, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava regions,» the energy company said in a statement.

Ukrenergo noted that the measures are aimed at reducing the load on the network. Restrictions are introduced in order to maintain the stability of the balancing of the power system and avoid repeated accidents. Ukrainians were urged to consciously treat electricity consumption, especially during the hours of morning and evening peak consumption.