Ukraine has fallen into a power shortage due to Russia's attack and is relying on lithium-ion batteries for power of communication infrastructure

Since Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has been attacking critical infrastructure such as power plants and substations in Ukraine, making it impossible to provide a stable power supply in Ukraine. The situation continues. In Ukraine, batteries and generators are used to survive the time of power shortage, but the Wall Street Journal reports that batteries and generators are also lacking.

Russian Strikes Sap Ukraine Mobile Network of Vital Power - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-strikes-sap-ukraine-mobile-network-of-vital-power-11673747621

Shortly after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces seized Europe's largest nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant . In addition to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the Russian military has been attacking power plants and substations one after another, and the stable supply of electricity in Ukraine is becoming difficult.

Ukraine's Zaporizhia nuclear power plant was attacked by the Russian army and a fire occurred, ``If it explodes, the damage will be 10 times that of Chernobyl''-GIGAZINE

The unstable power supply has affected everyday life in Ukraine, and it has been pointed out that if the unstable power situation continues for a long period of time, it may have a major impact on winter protection measures and water supply facilities. increase. In addition, the Ukrainian government sends speeches by President Volodymyr Zelensky and news about the war via the Internet, and if the Internet is interrupted due to power shortages, the people's interest in war and fighting will be lost. are feared.

However, due to the planned power outages in Ukraine, 25% of the mobile communication base stations deployed throughout Ukraine are down at some point, making it difficult to provide a stable mobile communication network. I'm in a situation. In addition, in the large-scale attack by the Russian military that occurred in November 2022, 59% of the base stations were unable to communicate.

'250 generators and 36,000 lithium-ion batteries are needed to maintain the cellular network,' said a spokesperson for Ukrainian network company lifecell . The mobile communication network laid in Ukraine is not intended for war, and most base stations are equipped with lead-acid batteries as an emergency power supply. While lead-acid batteries have the advantage of having a large electromotive force, they also have the disadvantage of requiring a long time to recharge once discharged. For this reason, network operators are looking to supply lithium-ion batteries, which can be recharged faster than lead-acid batteries, as well as generators that can supply power as long as they have fuel.

Ukrainian network company Kyivstar has deployed 8000 new lithium-ion batteries and Vodafone Ukraine has deployed 5000 lithium-ion batteries. However, those batteries can only supply power to the base station for up to 6 hours. Most power outages in Ukraine last more than six hours, so the deployed batteries alone cannot provide the full power supply.

As mentioned above, in Ukraine, the network is unstable due to the lack of power supply. However, the Ukrainian government has decided to prioritize power supply to hospitals and emergency services, so network instability is likely to continue.