Since the beginning of the year, DTEK Kyiv Regional Grids has protected over 1,000 km of power lines from emergency power outages

Thermal power generation21 April 2025

Since the beginning of 2025, DTEK Kyiv Regional Grids energy workers cleared almost 1,300 kilometers of routes under the power lines. This way, company’s specialists protect the girds from possible emergencies during bad weather, when falling of branches and trees cause broken wires. Despite the war, energy workers continue to do everything possible maintain to provide electricity to the homes of the residents.

Since the beginning of the year, DTEK Kyiv Regional Grids has protected over 1,000 km of power lines from emergency power outages

Over 92% of the girds in the Kyiv region are the overhead ones. Most of them run through woods and areas of private development. In addition to scheduled repairs and maintenance, in order to significantly reduce the number of emergencies on them, it is required to regularly prune tree branches and other brushwood.

“A systematic work related to clearing of routes provides a visible effect already — the number of emergencies on the grids, caused by fallen trees, has reduced significantly. Thanks to the timely pruning of branches, the duration of emergencies elimination has reduced by 25 minutes over the past year. In the first quarter of 2025, energy workers have already cleared 1,300 kilometers of routes. In 2024, we have carried out works on more than 4,000 kilometers and we plan to carry out even more this year. We are doing everything to provide residents of the region with electricity,” – commented DTEK Kyiv Regional Grids CEO Vitalii Shaida.

Meanwhile, more than 2,000 emergencies per year are caused by improperly maintained trees in the private areas. Therefore, it is important for its owners to timely prune branches in their backyards. This will allow to significantly reduce the number of emergencies and improve reliability of power supply in every building of the region.

In addition to possible emergencies, the branches touching the live wire is a direct threat to life, as a tree trunk may conduct current and electrocute someone. Therefore, energy workers urge to timely prune trees and bushes in your own backyards and plots of land. In accordance with the rules*, landowners are the ones responsible for proper care of greenery. Therefore, they must prune trees and bushes.

DTEK Kyiv Regional Grids specialists, in their turn, carry out scheduled pruning of trees that grow in the protected zone** of the overhead power lines. While local authorities prune trees in the unmanaged territories, wastelands.

To carry out works safely, especially if the branches are already touching the power lines, residents of the region must agree the time of works performance with local authorities. They will forward this information to energy workers, who will arrange temporary power shutdown to ensure safe pruning.

* In accordance with the “Rules of grids protection“ planting trees underneath power lines is prohibited. Landowners and land users should clear green spaces if the tree branches approached the 0.4 kV lines closer than 1 meter or if branches hang over the wires. If the trees are in emergency state and severe weather can make them fall and damage the grids — they should be pruned.

** power lines’ protected zone is a land plot and air space on both sides of the power lines. For the lines up to 1 kV it is 2 meters on both sides of the line, 3-20 kV – 10 meters, 35 kV – 15 meters, 110 kV – 20 meters, 150 kV, 220 kV – 25 meters, 330 kV, 400 kV, 500 kV – 30 meters, 750 kV – 40 meters.