Ukraine installed almost 100 MW of new PV systems in 2016. The country’s cumulative installed PV power reached 530.8 at the end of last year. Local agency SAEE predicts 150 MW of new PV installations for 2017, while the association UARE expects between 300 MW and 400 MW.
Ukraine saw the installation of PV systems totaling 99.1 MW in 2016, according to official data from the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine (SAEE).
In the previous year, only 9 MW of new solar power stations were installed in the country. Ukraine’s cumulative installed PV capacity reached 530.8 MW, as of the end of December 2016.
These data do not include around 400 MW of installed PV power located in the region of Crimea, which is currently under Russian military control. In a statement to pv magazine, the Ukrainian Association of Renewable Energy (UARE) specified that data on solar projects located in Crimea have not been included in SAEE’s statistics since April 2014.
Furthermore, the SAEE forecasts that approximately 150 MW of new PV installations will be connected to the country’s grid this year. The UARE, however, believes that under favorable conditions between 300 MW and 400 MW of new PV projects could be connected to the country’s grid this year.
According to a report recently presented by the expert board of the 6th International Conference on Exhibition Solar Energy Industry in Central and Eastern Europe (CISOLAR-2017), 54 new solar energy projects with a total capacity of 460 MW are expected to be implemented by the end of 2017. Seven of these projects have capacity over 20 MW, nine have more than 10 MW and more than 20 projects will have capacity over 5 MW.
The new feed-in tariffs in Ukraine are set at €0.1599 ($0.1726)/kWh for ground-mounted solar power plants commissioned in 2016 and €0.1502 ($0.1621)/kWh for projects connected between 2017 and 2019. In order to receive a higher compensation, many solar developers are aiming to complete ongoing projects by the end of this year.
In 2016, the Ukrainian government announced a plan to turn Chernobyl’s nuclear wasteland into a 1 GW solar farm. The anticipated PV plant would correspond to the capacity of the wrecked nuclear power plant and could rely on existing power supply systems. Companies from USA, Canada, China and Germany have shown interest in this €1.1 billion project
According to a 2015 report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Ukraine has large untapped renewable energy potential that could boost the share of renewable energy in its total final energy consumption to 21.8% by 2030.
Source: pv-magazine
