New 2-megawatt solar power plant has begun operating on the grounds of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and will supply electricity to critical infrastructure, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister for Energy, Denys Shmyhal, announced on Wednesday.
“This in-house power generation makes the Chernobyl NPP more resilient and less dependent on external power supplies, and is one of the essential conditions for nuclear and radiation safety,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
In particular, the new solar power plant will supply electricity to the “New Safe Confinement,” radioactive waste management facilities, and spent nuclear fuel storage facilities.
The total budget for the project to construct the solar power plant on the Chernobyl site exceeds $825,000. It was made possible thanks to support from UNDP and the governments of Lithuania and Japan. Specifically, Lithuania provided 7,296 solar panels and 17 grid-connected inverters as part of its humanitarian aid, while UNDP, with funding from Japan, provided additional equipment and oversaw the installation and commissioning of the plant.
Each year, the plant will generate over 2 million kWh of clean electricity, which accounts for 5% of the industrial site’s annual consumption and will save approximately $365,000 per year.
“We will direct the savings toward the modernization, replacement, and upgrading of critically important equipment necessary for the safe decommissioning of the Chernobyl NPP,” Shmyhal noted.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi will lead a team of experts who will visit the Chernobyl nuclear power plant next week, according to a statement posted on the organization’s website on Friday.
“International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will lead an expert mission to Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) next week to step up assistance to prevent the danger of a nuclear accident during the current conflict in the country,” the statement said.
It is noted that a group of IAEA employees will arrive in Chernobyl on April 26 to deliver the necessary equipment and conduct radiological and other surveys of the area.
In March, Grossi visited the South Ukrainian NPP, where he discussed IAEA assistance to Ukraine with the Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko, the head of the nuclear regulator of Ukraine Oleg Korikov, the head of the State Enterprise NNEGC Energoatom Petr Kotin and the general director of the South Ukrainian NPP Igor Polovich. Then he noted, that the personal presence of IAEA specialists on the ground would help prevent the risk of a nuclear accident in the face of Russian military aggression, It was noted that such an accident could lead to serious consequences in the field of health and the environment both in Ukraine and abroad.
