Ukraine Group Completes First Phase of Wind Farm Despite Ongoing War
Ukrainian energy company DTEK Group said it has finished construction of the first 114 MW of a planned 500-MW wind farm in the country, as DTEK continues to work on energy projects despite the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The company on March 10 said it is seeking international help to complete the Tyligulska wind farm. The current project features 19 Vestas 6-MW wind turbines, which are expected to begin generating electricity this spring. The wind farm is loated in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine.
DTEK officials have said they will continue to work toward the company’s goal of installing at least 30 GW of renewable energy generation capacity in Ukraine by 2030, a program dubbed “30 to 2030.” That total would enable renewable energy to generate about half of the country’s total electricity.
“DTEK is building new energy facilities because we believe in the victory of Ukraine,” said Maxim Timchenko, DTEK’s CEO. “And we are sending a signal to international partners that it’s possible to invest in Ukraine today without waiting for the end of the war.”
Work on the wind farm was stopped a year ago when Russian forces first invaded Ukraine. Construction resumed after workers were outfitted with body armor to support their safety.
Ukraine currently has about 10 GW of installed renewable energy capacity, which includes some facilities occupied by Russian forces.
Rinat Akhmetov, a shareholder of SCM Group, or System Capital Management, an investor in the wind farm, said, “The failure of Russia’s energy terror has once again demonstrated the tenacity of Ukraine’s power engineers. It also clearly shows the importance of Ukraine strengthening our energy security and moving towards energy independence. Clean energy is key to achieving that and Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine has accelerated [renewable energy] development all over the world.”
Akhmetov said SCM has invested more than $1 billion in solar and wind farms in Ukraine over the past 11 years. “The war will not stop us,” said Akhmetov. “We continue to create jobs, pay taxes, produce coal, generate electricity, restore grids, fight for our energy independence, and invest in the future. We will win the war.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said renewable energy is important for the country’s future and has said project development will be a priority as the foundation for Ukraine’s post-war recovery.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior associate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).