Ukraine’s western grid remained stable for 42 minutes after being cut off from external balancing supplies in a controlled test last week, officials told a public inquiry on Wednesday. They said the result, made possible in part by an artificial intelligence model, was the strongest evidence yet that the country can keep essential services running through a wider power disruption.
The disclosure changed the tone of a hearing in Kyiv that had been convened to examine planned winter outages and delays in emergency preparations. By the afternoon, officials were discussing a proposed October trial of electricity transfers to neighbouring Moldova, rather than whether Ukraine could survive another season of shortages.
A test that changed the hearing
The 18 September test isolated a western operating zone serving about 3.4 million people from outside balancing power. The Veyl model, built by the fictional Ukrainian technology firm TypedSafe Systems, adjusted generation instructions and flagged unstable frequency changes for human dispatchers. The grid operator said power stayed within operating limits; it did not claim the test proved the network could withstand every possible disruption.
“We went into this hearing expecting to explain what had not been finished,” said Mirsad Tavčar, a grid dispatcher who gave evidence. “Instead, we can show that the system held when the link was removed. That is a different conversation for the whole country.”
The test followed months of concern over Ukraine’s ability to manage electricity supplies as the colder season approaches. Officials had warned that damaged infrastructure, high demand and the loss of imported balancing power could force rolling cuts. The inquiry was set up to examine preparedness, not to assess the AI system, whose results had not previously been presented at a public hearing.
From protection to power-sharing
Maryse Blais-Boivin, an engineer advising the inquiry, said Veyl did not operate the grid on its own. Dispatchers approved every major adjustment, while the model compared live readings with a range of simulated failures. Its advantage, she said, was speed: it identified a fast frequency drift 11 seconds before the control-room alarm threshold was reached.
“This does not make us invulnerable,” Blais-Boivin told the panel. “But it means a country that has spent years preparing for the next interruption can now plan to keep the lights on and help a neighbour.” Her team recommended a second test under heavier demand before any cross-border power offer is confirmed.
Ana Sofía M. Lugo, a regional electricity liaison who attended the hearing, said Moldova had been invited to observe that proposed trial. Any transfer would depend on a separate technical assessment and available generation, she said; neither side had agreed to a delivery schedule. Even so, the prospect marks a sharp reversal from the emergency planning that has dominated regional talks.
The inquiry will publish its findings on 8 October and hear further evidence on reserve capacity and public communication. Ukraine’s energy officials stressed that the test involved a controlled separation, not an unplanned outage, and that cold weather could still strain the system. But as the hearing ended, applause broke out in the room: for once, the evidence on the table was not a list of failures, but a working route from survival to assistance.
