Page 47 - UKRRptApr19

Almost 900 MW in wind power projects are under construction in Ukraine today , says Andriy Konechenkov, chairman of the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association. Of these about 300 MW will be commissioned this year, he predicts. The projects are largely in southern Ukraine, along the coasts of the Black and Azov seas, where winds are the strongest. Last year, 68 MW of wind power capacity was commissioned.
Bloomberg calculates that Ukraine attracted $2.4bn in renewable projects last year . China remained the world leader investing $100bn. But this was one third below 2017 due to a cut in the number of new solar projects. The US came in second, with $64bn, 12% more than in 2017. In the EU, investment jumped by 27%, to $74.5bn, largely due to five massive offshore wind projects and a big expansion of solar in Spain.
Auctions are designed to lower Ukraine’s ‘green tariffs’, among the world’s highest . Last year renewable power sources provided 2% of the nation’s electricity, but accounted for 8% of the nation’s power bill, according to Olga Buslavets, director of energy markets for the Energy and Coal Industry Ministry. Reviewing solar and wind projects under way, she predicted at a Kyiv round table that the nation’s installed renewable energy capacity will increase by 50% this year, to three gigawatts. In Ukraine’s electricity pie, nuclear supplies 53%, coal, gas and oil power plant supply 37%, and largely scale hydro dams – 7%.If Ukraine does not move from Europe’s highest green tariffs to an auction system, consumers will pay $1.5bn a year for renewable energy by 2021, warns Olha Buslavets, director of energy markets for the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry. This sum is equal to what consumers paid last year for electricity generated by nuclear power plants, source of 56% Ukraine’s power, she said in a press statement on Wednesday.
The EBRD, the largest lender to Ukraine, will resume lending for solar and wind projects only after the Rada passes the ‘green energy’ auction bill, Olga Yeromina, EBRD Ukraine’s senior banker for electricity, said Tuesday at a Rada energy conference. As reported by ExPro Consulting, she said: “As soon as the law introducing the new renewable energy support system through the mechanism of auctions is adopted, we will be ready to actively start the preparation of new framework financing for the continued support of projects in the field of renewable energy." She said the EBRD hopes the bill will be approved by the Rada and signed by President Poroshenko in coming weeks.
47 UKRAINE Country Report April 2019 www.intellinews.com