Ukraine’s ‘twin cities’ project funds solar for community energy resilience

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Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy has launched a €2 million “twin cities” pilot, partnering Hlobyne, Ukraine, with Grafenwörth, Austria, to install solar panels and strengthen community energy resilience.

The initiative, unveiled by Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko at the Third International Summit of Cities and Regions, includes an Investment Atlas showcasing over 150 regional energy projects to attract international investment.

“We are grateful to our international partners for their consistent support in strengthening the energy resilience of Ukraine’s regions,” said Galushchenko.

In 2024, the ministry introduced Regional Energy Resilience Passports to highlight each region’s energy potential and support balanced development across diverse energy sources.

Galushchenko said decentralized generation will be critical for meeting local needs, especially amid ongoing Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which included 13 major missile and drone strikes in 2024, costing Russia an estimated €1.3 billion for a single assault.

“Local generation to meet the critical needs of each region is a vital component of energy resilience, both for individual communities and for the country as a whole,” Galushchenko said, noting Ukraine’s readiness to collaborate with global partners on distributed generation projects to counter the impact of wartime disruptions.

In March, Norway announced $5.5 million in funding for 13 solar installations at hospitals and schools in Kharkiv, Ukraine. The projects will add 1.1 MW of solar capacity and 2.3 MWh of energy storage to support critical infrastructure in the war-torn city.

Ukraine installed between 800 MW and 850 MW of solar capacity in 2024, according to industry estimates. Business and residential installations drove the growth, aided by tax and import duty exemptions for solar equipment introduced in mid-2024.

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