The deputy head of Russia’s Ministry of Energy, Evgeny Grabchak, spoke on the Russia 24 channel about ongoing risks tied to power cut plans in the southern regions, noting that extreme heat continues to challenge the reliability of the energy system. He emphasized that the ministry’s immediate goal is to ease strain on the grid by prioritizing maintenance work and repairs as sparingly as possible, to keep the system stable during peak demand.
Grabchak recalled a notable first: the day prior, the energy network experienced a summer peak higher than the traditional winter peak, underscoring that the grid had reached its current operational limit. He pointed out a stabilizing development with the Rostov Nuclear Power Plant and the commencement of repairs at the Novocherkassk State Regional Power Plant, which together contributed to softer pressure on generation and distribution.
He expressed cautious optimism that there would be no need to activate emergency containment measures at that time. Despite the cooling trend in the overall stress on the grid, he noted that minor restrictions on industrial activity during the hottest hours remain in place in coordination with regional authorities. These measures are described as standard practice to preserve system stability when electricity demand spikes.
On July 16, a period of unusually intense heat prompted power outages across southern Russia. By midday, the first unit of the Rostov Nuclear Power Plant, which feeds a broad region including Rostov, Krasnodar, Stavropol, the DPR and LPR territories, Zaporozhye and Kherson areas, and Sevastopol, was taken offline. The outages caused rolling blackouts in several coastal and inland cities, including Yalta, Alushta, Feodosia, Sudak, and Kerch.
In response to the incident at the Rostov NPP, a temporary reduction in electricity consumption was introduced in the southern part of the country, reaching up to 1.5 gigawatts. Later, officials announced a partial rollback of these restrictions by about 500 megawatts as grid conditions improved and optimization efforts took effect.
Rosenergoatom reported, as of 5:45 a.m. on July 17, that Rostov NPP had managed to bring unit No. 1 back to operation. This restoration marked a step toward normalizing supply and stabilizing regional power delivery after the outage.
Earlier media reports indicated that the south faced a renewed energy crisis due to the heat and a shortfall in production capacity. The evolving situation prompted a coordinated response among energy authorities, regional administrations, and the operators of thermal and nuclear generation facilities to safeguard critical supply lines during the heat wave.