Crimea Home to New Solar Power Project

Joanna Schroeder

The Ukraine has finalized the construction of a new solar energy power station in the Crimea with the help of Nature Energy. The new solar project is a part of the country’s National Projects aimed at lessening the imported energy consumption by 30 percent by 2015. The solar power system has the ability to produce up to 25 thousand megawatt-hours, enough to supply all the energy needed for approximately 5000 average sized homes. The project is also estimated to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20,000 tons per year.

Ukrainian leadership launched its National Projects in 2010 and one of its goals is to produce electric energy from clean sources such as solar and wind. By 2015, the country wants 2000 MW of energy generated from renewable sources. The State Agency of Ukraine for Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation reports that the share of alternative energy shall make up to 30 percent of Ukrainian energy market before 2015. This is an important goal for the country – today nearly 60 percent of its energy, mainly natural gas, is imported.

To help build the solar industry in the country and to encourage businesses and consumers to adopt solar energy, the country created a green tariff system in September 2008. In April of 2009, the green tariff was modified to become a 20 year fixed feed-in tariff for renewable sources.

Ukraine believes that it has an extensive market for solar energy. The capacity of solar radiation in Ukraine reaches from 800 to 1450 W/m squared per year and several regions have the most potential including Crimea, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Odesa. Ukraine is the twelfth largest energy market in the world with an installed capacity of 54 GW as of 2009, exporting its excess electricity to such countries as Russia, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Moldova, and Hungary.

Electricity, Energy, Solar