Half of Ukraine’s renewable energy sector is in danger of becoming extinct.
This is the warning of Oleksandr Kozakevych, Chairman of the Ukrainian Association of Renewable Energy, who spoke to ELN on the impact of the war on the country’s energy infrastructure.
According to the chairman of the organization that promotes Ukraine’s renewable energy industry, “most Ukrainian and foreign investors today are working to save as many lives as they can.” They work as unpaid volunteers.
Some of their members, solar farm owners or developers, are now aiding the Ukrainian army, their troops, by designing items called “hedgehogs,” which they use to attempt to stop the march of tanks or other forces.
Kozakevych went on to argue that Ukraine’s renewable energy facilities are in great risk of being completely or partially destroyed.
It is estimated that over 47 percent of installed renewable energy power plant capacity is situated in locations where active conflicts are occurring.
The vast majority of wind farms in Ukraine were built in areas with the greatest wind potential, such as Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa.
Almost 89 percent of wind farm capacity is located in areas where active hostilities are now taking place, with the remaining 9 percent located near areas where active hostilities are taking place.
Over half of the wind farms have already been shut off.
“We must protect our grid against massive strikes by Russian occupiers,” Oleksandr Kozakevych said.
When asked about other countries’ sanctions against Russian oil and gas, Mr Kozakevych responded, “Russia’s oil and gas suppliers are more effective weapons in this struggle than actual arms.”