Tractebel Engineering from ENGIE Group in a preliminary feasibility study for building a ground solar power plant with a capacity of 1.2 GW in the exclusion zone around Chornobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) offers a modular concept of building eight 150 MW substations. “We understand that the north of Kyiv region is not the best location for solar plants, but this is the area that needs this project. Tractebel Engineering’s conclusion about this project is rather cautious: the construction of solar plants is possible,” Head of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management Vitaliy Petruk said, when presenting the feasibility study in Kyiv.
“Based on the results of the feasibility study, the construction of solar stations is cost-effective and will require more than EUR1 billion of investments,” Yulia Kovaliv, the head of the office of the National Investment Council, said.
Tractebel Engineering explains the feasibility of the phased construction of solar plants with the desire to avoid difficulties with logistics. According to the document, the estimated time for building one substation will be about 17 months.
At the same time, the project of Chornobyl solar plants requires a more detailed economic justification, the report of Tractebel Engineering says. According to it, radiation pollution will increase costs for stations in comparison with the typical solar station project, but it does not undermine the economy of the project.
According to Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Ostap Semerak, the approximate cost of investments in the whole project with a capacity of 1.2 GW will be about EUR1 billion.
