Ukrainian private energy group DTEK announced on Monday that it has finalised the 114-MW Phase I of the Tyligulska Wind Power Plant (WPP) in the southern region of Mykolaiv.
DTEK said in a statement that this is the world’s only wind farm being built in a major conflict zone, with staff working in bullet-proof vests, as the site is located just 60 miles (100 km) from the frontline. The construction process had to be halted in February 2022 when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. At the time, only six of the 19 turbines were erected.
The company has invested USD 200 million (EUR 185m) in the construction of the facility, which is powered by 6-MW Vestas hardware. In Phase II of the project, DTEK intends to add up to 64 turbines to increase the plant’s capacity to 500 MW but those plans are dependent on its ability to obtain an additional USD 450 million in funding from foreign investors and state-backed international financial institutions, it said.
“Today I want to say: we made a decision to resume the construction of the wind power plant and the first stage of the station started working at full capacity. The war will not stop us,” stated Rinat Akhmetov, investor at SCM and DTEK shareholder.
(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.926)
