DTEK energy workers are mastering the live repairs technique (repairs without power shutdowns for the customers): 10,000 such works have been performed in the Dnipropetrovsk region in 2023

Energy workers of the DTEK Dnipro Grids constantly improve methods of works on the grids. Since 2018, they were one of the first ones in Ukraine to start mastering the technique of repairs without power shutdown. Currently 67% of repairs on the lines in the Dnipropetrovsk region are performed this way. This is almost twice as much as before the full-scale war. The goal is to conduct the majority of repairs without de-energization of customers. 

“Since 2022, we had to partially suspend our energy workers’ training for live works, as all resources were directed to restoration of the electrical infrastructure after hostilities. Now, we are gradually returning to the projects on development and application of modern technologies on the grids. Including, live repairs. In 2023, energy workers conducted 9,917 repairs on the lines in the Dnipropetrovsk region without de-energization of customers. However, development of this technique requires introduction of changes to the outdated regulatory framework at the state level. As its inadaptability significantly increases the cost of application of this method in Ukraine,” - told DTEK Dnipro Grids CEO Andrii Tereshchuk. 

Depending on the difficulty of works, training of energy workers lasts from 3 days (works in the meter cabinets) to 3 months (works on the 6-20 kV overhead lines). It is conducted at the special training landfills in Poland and in the village of Mezhyrich in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where a modern base was established for such training. From 2018 to 2022, live works method has been mastered by 683 energy workers of the DTEK Dnipro Grids. In 2023, additional 243 specialists were trained for works on the 0.4 kV lines and 55 – for works in the meter cabinets.  

Besides, sets of special personal protective equipment have been purchased: rubber gloves, hardhats with a screen, dielectric mats, tools with insulated handles, caps, covers, blankets, booms that protect electricians from electrocution during performance of live works on the lines. 

At the same time, DTEK Dnipro Grids specialists constantly extend the list and difficulty of works. Currently, they conduct works not only in the 0.4 kV grids, but also on the medium-voltage lines. The company has purchased a special truck-mounted aerial work platform that can work with 6-20 kV voltage. This is a unique technique for Ukraine, which is currently being applied in Pavlohrad. 

In Kryvyi Rih in 2023, the technique was first tested during replacement of reinforced concrete poles. Previously, such difficult repairs required de-energization of consumers for a long period of time. And in December, energy workers conducted 8 out of 26 works related to replacement of poles without any shutdowns. Additionally, they are now actively mastering this method during cutting of trees near the lines. Last month, 69 out of 236 such works (29%) were conducted live. 

DTKE Dnipro Grids intends to further scale the project and increase the number of live works. But doing that requires provision of corresponding resources in the company’s investment program at the national regulator level and introduction of changes in the regulatory base that regulates training of energy workers and actual performance of such works on the grids at the state level.