Raiffeisen Bank (Kyiv) has installed the first solar power plant in a branch located in Obolon district of the capital as part of the implementation of autonomous power sources, the financial institution said on Thursday.
“The 15 kW power plant will ensure uninterrupted provision of financial services even during prolonged power outages. The transition to solar generation also helps to significantly reduce the cost of fuel, generator maintenance and capital repairs,” it said.
It is noted that solar power plants will be used as the main source of electricity and, according to experts, will pay off in 7 years.
Recently, the Ministry of Finance announced the installation of 118 solar roof panels with an area of 310 square meters with a total capacity of 60 kW at its capital office.
“Also, 2 heating stations were modernized, more than 2 km of pipelines were insulated, 558 public lighting fixtures and 42 outdoor lighting fixtures were replaced with more economical ones, more than 200 windows were modernized to reduce heat infiltration and a building energy monitoring system was introduced,” the Ministry of Finance said.
These changes are expected to reduce electricity consumption by 20% and save more than UAH 1.3 million per year.
The Ministry of Finance clarified that these measures were implemented with the support of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) under the project “Promotion of Energy Efficiency and Implementation of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive in Ukraine”.
Minister of Finance Sergii Marchenko added that the work on the energy efficiency of the administrative building is only the first of a number of activities in the framework of cooperation with partners. In particular, the Ministry of Finance plans to modernize the air conditioning and supply and exhaust ventilation systems, as well as to install an energy-efficient glass roof over the building’s atrium.
“After the implementation of all project steps, the building of the Ministry of Finance will become the first government building in Ukraine with a Class A energy efficiency certificate,” the Ministry emphasized in its release.
TIU Canada (Ekotechnik Nikopol) dismantled the equipment of its solar power plant in Nikopol due to an unresolved conflict with Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (NFP), according to a material on the Voice of America website.
According to Michael Yurkovich, CEO of TIU Canada, after the solar power plant was disconnected from the power grid in March 2020, followed by its downtime and a number of negative court decisions, the owners of NFP offered to sell the plant to them for a pittance, after which it was decided to dismantle it.
“This situation is not unique for the last two years in this country. The governments of the world, other overseas investors, people in the diaspora must admit that this situation does not only affect TIU – it affects many businesses and is getting worse, and we no longer want to play this game,” he said.
As reported, on March 2, 2020, NFP completely disconnected a 10.5 MW solar power plant from Ekotechnik Nikopol LLC (TIU Canada) from the power grid. TIU Canada noted that NFP took advantage of the fact that the SPP was connected to a substation located on its territory, and explained the need for shutdown by repair work.
TIU Canada has been operating in Ukraine since 2016. The company put into operation a 10.5 MW SPP in Nikopol in January 2018, and an 11 MW SPP in Mykolaiv region in April 2019. In addition, TIU Canada launched a 33 MW SPP in Odesa region. The company’s investments in solar energy, which became the first investor in Ukraine under the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Area Agreement (CUFTA), amounted to over $65 million.
Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant is controlled by EastOne Group, established in autumn 2007 as a result of restructuring of Interpipe Group, and Privat Group, both based in Dnipro.
The Pivdenny Economic Court of Appeals has postponed the hearing of a case regarding the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (NFP) shutdown of TIU Canada’s solar power plant in Nikopol to July 27 due to the absence of one of the defendants, the Canadian company said in a press release on Thursday.
In addition, according to TIU Canada, one of the judges withdrew from the case on the morning of June 24 and was replaced, which was the next stage after the previous three judges recused themselves.
As reported, earlier the company had previously filed a motion to dismiss three judges of Pivdenny Economic Court of Appeals from the hearing the case “because of warnings about the connection between the latter and oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, who is included in the list of persons subject to U.S. government sanctions.”
TIU Canada argued its distrust by the fact that judges Korsak, Popikova and Yevsikov, whose challenge the company is seeking, had previously ruled in favor of businessman Ihor Kolomoisky, who controls NFP, in the case against the state-owned PrivatBank, admitting that they would not be able to consider the case related to this enterprise without bias.
The 10.5 MW solar power plant was disconnected from the power grid by NFP in March 2020. TIU Canada said that NFP took advantage of the fact that the SPP was connected to a substation located on its territory, and explained the need for disconnection by repair work. The shutdown caused the company in excess of EUR1.5 million losses, which continue to grow.
As a result, Ekotekhnik Nikopol LLC (TIU Canada) filed a claim against NFP with the Kyiv Economic Court. In the middle of February, the company said it would challenge a January 26 court ruling that rejected the company’s claims against NFP.
Gudzovka-Solar PV PP reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 30,000 tons per year.
UDP Renewables, whose strategic investor is the holding company UFuture, pursues its partnership with the world leading company in renewables — ACCIONA. As part of the cooperation, two stages of new solar plant “Gudzovka-Solar” are commissioned in the city of Izmail, Odessa region. Investments in the project amounted to about €21 mln.
“I am proud that we have the opportunity to implement joint projects together with ACCIONA. Our partner is reliable, efficient and has high standards of work. We are glad that we were able to reveal Ukraine’s investment attractiveness for an international strategist, as our cooperation is an inspiring example of system-building cooperation,” said Sergiy Yevtushenko, managing Partner of UDP Renewables.
Gudzovka-Solar-1 PV PP and Gudzovka-Solar-2 PV PP have a peak capacity of 24.4 MW totaled up and are equipped with more than 72,000 solar panels manufactured by JASolar. This amount of innovative equipment generates about 33,600 MWh of electricity per year and can meet the needs of 13,000 households.
“Despite the turbulent period in the industry and in the world as a whole, UFuture systematically implements its strategic plans and invests in Ukraine’s renewable energy. We faithfully fulfil all our obligations to the state and our partners. Today, the company is considering various scenarios for further development in this area. Successful cooperation with the world’s leading market players formulates the necessary expertise and reputation base to expand our activities, both in Ukraine and, possibly, in foreign markets,” said Nicholas Tymoshchuk, CEO of UFuture.
The EPC contractor of the project was a group of companies KNESS, the financial partner was Credit Agricole Bank.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
UDP Renewables is an investment and development company in the Ukrainian renewable energy sector. With diversification in the type of renewable power generation and geography, by 2022 UDP Renewables strives to become one of the largest producers of clean energy in Ukraine, with a total capacity of more than 300 MW.
UFuture is a holding company of Ukrainian entrepreneur Vasyl Khmelnytsky, which has a diversified portfolio of assets in the fields of real estate, infrastructure, industry, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals and IT. In particular, UFuture is a strategic investor in UDP Renewables. UFuture’s assets are valued at $500 million, and the total capitalization of the businesses in which it has invested is up to $1 billion.
UDP Renewables has launched the Port Solar solar power plant with a capacity of 8.6 MW in Izmail, Odesa region.
According to the press service of the company, more than 25,700 solar panels manufactured by Jinko Solar (the largest global manufacturer of solar panels) are installed on an area of 16 hectares. It is expected that the plant will generate about 11,800 MWh of electricity annually.
The co-investor in the facility is Slovakia’s E-Group, the general contractor is the Metropolia Group of Companies (Kyiv).
“Involving the experience of our partners, UFuture and UDP Renewables are working to ensure that energy production in Ukraine complies with the best global environmental safety and energy efficiency practices. Our goal is more than 300 MW by 2022. Now we are following the plan, gradually implementing projects in the regions with the highest solar activity – Odesa, Zaporizhia, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions,” the press service said, citing the founder of the UFuture investment group Vasyl Khmelnytsky.
The company also reported that Ukrainian-built equipment worth over UAH 44.5 million was used in the construction of this plant. The total amount of attracted investments amounted to EUR 6.75 million.
UDP Renewables is an investment and development company in the field of renewable energy. It is part of the UFuture investment group, which belongs to Khmelnytsky.
E-Group is part of the INDUSTRY investments sub-fund that invests in energy. It belongs to the portfolio of the qualified investors fund ZMJ SICAV.
Norway’s Norsk Solar has signed an agreement with the Voltage Group Ukrainian Company for designing and building of a 9 MW solar power plant near the town of Brovary in Kyiv region, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) reported on its website. According to the NEFCO, Voltage Group developed design documentation for construction of the solar plant on a total land area of 12.6 hectares.
The plant, which is located in the village of Semypolky, is to be commissioned at the end of 2019.
As reported, the NEFCO will lend EUR 4.35 million to Norway’s Norsk Solar for the construction of the plant, while Norsk Solar will issue another EUR 4.35 million.
The project owner and majority equity contributor, Norsk Solar AS, is part of the Norsk Vind group.
Norsk Solar is owned by Norwegian Lars Helge Helvig.
Ukrainian SPP will be the second such kind of a project for the company.
BUILDING, CONTRACT, KYIV, NORSK SOLAR, SOLAR POWER PLANT, UKRAINIAN CONTRACTOR
