No geographical requirements for installation of solar power plants in Ukraine – expert

There are no geographical requirements for the installation of solar power plants, as climate change over the past 30 years has made it possible to generate enough solar power even in Ukraine’s north.

Oleksiy Korchmit, Chairman of the Ukrainian Association of Energy Service Companies, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"The geography of solar power plants is diverse. However, there are no geographical requirements for localization, as climate change over the past 30 years has made it possible to generate enough solar power even in the north of Ukraine. Theoretically, the Odesa region could turn to us first, but it does not have any energy service agreements for solar power plants, although it is actively preparing for this. Instead, Korosten (the Zhytomyr region), which is located in the north, is very active. It’s not about geography but the political will of the local authorities," Korchmit said.

According to him, as part of the UNDP Project "Removing Barriers to Increase Investment in Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings in Ukraine through the ESCO Modality in Small- and Medium-Sized Cities," solar power plants were installed in 10 water utilities over the past year: Korosten (80 kW), Vyshhorod (100 kW), Lviv (600 kW + 350 kWh battery), Khmelnytskyi (500 kW + 250 kWh battery), two SPPs in Brovary (180 kW and 250 kW), two SPPs in Chornomorsk (400 kW + 150 kWh battery and 80 kW), Zviahel (70 kW), and in the Kharkiv region, where an investor took a risk and is investing in a powerful 350 kW plant at the Pervomaiskyi water utility. Procurement procedures for two more contracts are currently underway in Kropyvnytskyi (100 kW) and Dubno (100 kW).

During the year, solar power plants were installed in 10 hospitals in Drohobych (144 kW), Truskavets (105 kW), Yahotyn (50 kW), Yuzhnoukrainsk (50 kW), Khmelnytskyi (50 kW) and five SPPs in Kryvyi Rih (100 kW, 40 kW, 30 kW, 40 kW, 74 kW).

According to him, hospitals install solar power plants on roofs where people have no access. For water utilities, solar power plants are installed on land plots next to the pumping station. There is usually a fence there to protect them from vandalism. However, investors are especially concerned about the threat of destruction due to military operations. Insurance for a year costs 2.5% of the property value.