Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

UKRAINE TO DOUBLE WIND POWER CAPACITIES IN 2019

Up to 300 MW of wind power capacities could be introduced in Ukraine in 2019, which is at least twice more than in 2018, Board Chairman of the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association (UWEA) Andriy Konechenkov has said.
He said that currently wind farms are being built by Wind Parks of Ukraine LLC in Mykolaiv and Donetsk regions (about 50 MW). The DTEK Group in Zaporizhia region is building the first phase of the Prymorska Wind Farm (expected to be completed in the first half of the year), as well as the Orlovka Wind Farm. In Kherson region, Windkraft Ukraine is completing the construction of a 70 MW Overianivka Wind Farm, and the company is starting construction of a 163 MW Myrne Wind Farm, the head of the UWEA said.
According to the National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Services Regulation of Ukraine (NCER), in 2018, 67.7 MW of wind farms were installed. In particular, the statistics of last year included the second stage of the Novotroyitske Wind Farm with a total capacity of 40.15 MW, built in 2017, but which obtained a feed-in tariff as early as 2018.
Some plants built last year were not taken into account by the NCER, since they obtained or will obtain a feed-in tariff this year, the UWEA said. For example, last year in Odesa region (the first project in wind power in this region), Turkey’s Guris Holding Co. built the Ovid Wind plant with a capacity of 32.4 MW. Due to the problems associated with obtaining different licenses, the launch is expected by the end of March.
According to the calculations of the association, the total number of projects currently under construction in Ukraine is 893 MW (those that have already received funding and for which contracts have been signed for the supply of wind turbines), including the Syvash Wind Farm project for 250 MW. Most of them will be implemented before the end of 2020, the head of UWEA said.
In addition, projects for the construction of a wind farm on 3.33 GW, in different regions are in the development stage. “Almost all of them are registered on the website of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, that is, they are undergoing an environmental impact assessment procedure, which indicates the beginning of the investment process. Among them, by the way, there are a lot of small plants – 9, 13, 30, 60 MW each. These wind farms will not have negative impact on the operation of the power grid, as it is almost distributed generation,” Konechenkov said.
The further development of wind energy will depend on the final version of the law on green auctions, which is expected to be adopted in March, in particular, from the state-allocated quotas for the construction of renewable energy facilities.

EPICENTER WANTS TO INVEST EUR 5 MLN IN GRAIN TRUCKS PURCHASING

The Epicenter K Group, developing the agricultural business, plans to invest around EUR 5 million in purchase of 100 grain trucks.
According to the press service of the company, Epicenter will purchase the first 10 grain trucks by the end of February. The approximate cost of one truck is EUR 45,000.
“We are thinking about the alternative to the railway. This season we are exporting grain by grain trucks from the Hnivan and Nemyriv silos (Vinnytsia region). The difference in corn trucking from Nemyriv to the port compared to the railway is $ 2 per tonne, and this is a good bargaining price for corn. In addition, it gives us efficiency in work and ensures the implementation of contracts,” Deputy Head for Agriculture of the Silo Division of the Epicenter K Svitlana Nykytiuk said.
At the same time, according to her, the company plans to complete the construction of railway lines to silos in Vapniarka and Vendychany (Vinnnytsia region).
“At other facilities, there is a railway connection, except for our silo in Kyiv region. The automobile logistics is more interesting there than the railway one,” Nykytiuk said.
The company plans to increase the silo storage capacity to 750,000 or 1 million tonnes. In particular, in 2018, the company began the reconstruction of the Vinnnytsia and Zakupne silos and the construction of two new silo complexes in Vinnnytsia region with a total capacity of 500,000 tonnes. Investments amounted to UAH 800 million, and the launch is scheduled for July 2019.
In addition, Epicenter will increase the capacity of the Hnivan grain collecting station (by 60,000 tonnes), the Nemyriv silo (by 28,000 tonnes) and the Pererobnyk silo in Kyiv region (by 105,000 tonnes). In addition, Epicenter will build a second phase of a silo at Vapniarka.

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SPANISH-BASED ACCIONA ENERGIA WANTS TO JOIN ANOTHER SOLAR PLANT PROJECT OF UDP RENEWABLES OF VASYL KHMELNYTSKY

Spanish-based Acciona Energia Global could acquire over 50% in the solar power plant projects Hudzivka-Solar 1 and Hudzivka-Solar 2 of UDP Renewables of Vasyl Khmelnytsky near Izmail in Odesa region.
According to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, it plans to consider the relevant statement of the Polish company Dymerka Solar Poland Sp. z o.o. controlled by Acciona.
According to UDP Renewables, the capacity of the Hudzivka solar plants being under construction in 2019 is 25.9 MW.
Managing Partner of UDP Renewables Serhiy Yevtushenko told the Interfax-Ukraine agency that UDP Renewables intends to remain in this project after Acciona joins it in order to develop it together. He added that the details of cooperation will be announced later after the successful completion of the transaction.
In early January of this year, the State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate reported that it had allowed Hudzivka-Solar 2 LLC to build two solar plants with a capacity of 10 MW each in Izmail.

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CANADIAN TIU PLANS TO COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION OF TWO SOLAR POWER PLANTS IN UKRAINE

TIU Canada plans to complete construction of two solar power plants with a total capacity of some 31 MW in Lymansky district of Odesa region this summer, TIU Canada in Ukraine Manager Valentyna Beliakova has said in an interview with Reform.Energy portal.
Commenting on plans to expand the solar power plants portfolio to 100 MW, she said that the company will return to them after the adoption of the law on green auctions.
According to the forecast of Beliakova, the market for the construction of solar power plants in 2020 after the introduction of auctions will definitely begin to fall. “Until the auction system will be adjusted, until investors will understand how to work on it, and until they will allocate quotas… the volume that is planned to be provided to all renewable energy facilities now – and the numbers of 500-700 MW per year are voiced – is small,” she said.
Commenting on the fact of the high tariff for the purchase of electricity from the solar power plants in Ukraine, Beliakova said that in Germany, one of the first to introduce this mechanism of support for renewable energy, the tariff was valid for 10-15 years at a fairly high level. In Ukraine, less time has passed since the establishment of the feed-in tariff, moreover, in 2015-2016, it was reduced.
“In addition, how are auctions held in Germany? The winner is provided with land parcels, technical conditions for connection. This significantly reduces the cost of the project. The investor can only install equipment. They have clearly defined territories, free capacity and connection conditions,” the head of TIU Canada in Ukraine said, noting that in view of this it is incorrect to compare the tariff of 15 eurocents per kWh in Ukraine with the tariff of 4-6 eurocents in Germany.
According to Beliakova, the stimulation of green energy, of course, should be only until its share reaches a certain level. “However, Ukraine does not yet follow the schedule for renewable energy facilities outlined in the Energy Strategy,” the head of TIU Canada in Ukraine said, recalling that the share of alternative sources of Ukraine’s overall generation remains low – less than 2%.
As reported, TIU Canada began its activity in Ukraine in June 2017. Its owner is the investment company Refraction Asset Management (Calgary, Canada). The company has already built a solar power plant with a capacity of 10.5 MW in Nikopol and is building another one in Mykolaiv region with a capacity of 13.5 MW.

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BWIN BETTING BRAND EVENS ODDS FOR ZELENSKY AND POROSHENKO VICTORY IN UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE

ElectraWorks Limited (Gibraltar), operating under the bwin sports betting brand and owned by GVC Holdings PLC, has over the past five days raised the odds on a victory by showman Volodymyr Zelensky in the upcoming Ukrainian presidential elections, for the first time evening his odds with incumbent President Petro Poroshenko.
According to bwin, Poroshenko’s odds have dropped from 2 to 1 to 2.2 to 1, while Zelensky’s odds have increased from 2.7 to 1 to 2.2 to 1.
The odds of Baktivschyna Party leader and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko have fallen again, according to the bookmaker, from 4 to 1 to 4.75 to 1.

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