Page 62 - UKRRptMay19

from Internet than from voice. Last year, the nation’s cell phone companies earned 46% of their revenue from Internet --$600mn. Voice accounted for 42% or $550mn. By contrast, in 2016, operators earned three times as much from voice as from Internet, according to the National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and Informatisation.
9.1.10 Renewables sector news
Currently $1.3bn worth of onshore wind projects are underway across Ukraine. By comparison, $100bn was spent worldwide last year on onshore wind, Bloomberg reports. Worldwide, wind energy was the second fastest growing renewable energy source in 2018, adding 49 GW. In first place was solar, adding 94GW, the International Renewable Energy Agency announced last week.
Over $1bn in solar projects are under construction this spring, racing the December 31 sunset of the sky high green tariffs. Adjusting to a new auction regime, investors plan bns of dollars in additional investments through 2020. The investment action largely focuses on Ukraine’s three sunniest southern regions – Mykolaiv, Kherson and Odesa.
Renewable energy – largely solar and wind – will be the fastest growing energy source in Ukraine this year, predicts the Energy and Coal Industry Ministry. Renewables will more than double – increasing by 127% -- to six gigawatts. Nuclear will decline by 1.2%, to 83.4 gigawatts. Thermal – coal and gas – will drop by 2% to 46.5 gigawatts. Combined heat and power plants will increase by 6.6% to 11.7 gigwatts. Large hydro will fall by 23% to eight gigawatts.
During the first quarter of this year, solar accounted for 80% of the 860 MW of newly installed renewable energy capacity, reports Savchuk, the Energy Efficiency director. Of Ukraine’s three gigawatts of installed renewable capacity, solar accounts for 71%. Companies from Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania and Turkey are among the investors building about a dozen solar projects for over 100 MW in central Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region. Establishing the region’s reputation as solar friendly, the Zhytomyr Regional Administration signed 14 memorandums with solar investors last year.
With the spread of solar, southern Odesa increasingly faces the problem of excessive daytime power for local electricity grids. To address this, France’s RTE International and Ukrenergo are designing Ukraine’s first energy storage system. RTE International is a unit of RTE, the French electricity grid operator. The first phase of work is financed by a €560,000 grant from France’s Economy and Finance Ministry.
At the end of April President Poroshenko is to sign into law the energy bill approved last week by the Rada, moving Ukraine next year from ‘green’ tariffs to ‘green’ auctions. Effective next year, the bill requires that all solar plants over 1 MW and all wind farms over 5MW participate in energy auctions. An existing 10% tariff increase for use of Ukrainian-made equipment is retained. The bill aims to establish a fair market price for ‘green’ electricity, to promote competition among producers, and to cut the cost of ‘green’ power to consumers, according to Sergey Savchuk, head of the State Energy Efficiency Agency.
62 UKRAINE Country Report May 2019 www.intellinews.com