Ukraine

The average global price of solar kilowatt-hours fell 13% on 2020’s prices, as around two-thirds of the renewables capacity installed last year was cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternative.

New small-capacity solar power plants are being developed in Ukraine to avoid blackouts, which is helping businesses to stay afloat amid dire economic conditions.  

A Russian missile attack hit a 3.9 MW solar plant last week, damaging 416 solar panels and four string inverters.

Two Russian missiles have hit a ground-mounted solar plant near Kharkiv, Ukraine. According to the manager of the plant, the missile attacks produced holes at the site that measured 6 meters deep and 11 meters in diameter.

The war in Ukraine has acted as a brutal wake-up call for governments to act and reduce their dependence on Russian fossil fuels. Many have pledged to hasten project timelines for renewables, but there are mixed reports about impacts on investor confidence and projects under development in Ukraine’s neighboring countries. Marija Maisch reports.

Vitaliy Daviy is the CEO of emerging markets focussed cleantech organization IB Centre Inc. and holds an optimistic view of Ukraine’s sector after the war. According to him, the country has the keys to energy independence and security.

Indra Overland, the head of the Center for Energy Research at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs, tells pv magazine how the Ukraine war is irreversibly changing the global energy landscape, making massive renewables deployment a certainty. But labor issues, equipment shortages, and reliance on Chinese manufacturing remain obstacles.

The Ukrainian authorities are currently resorting to PV to keep gas substations running despite the destruction of the electricity grid by Russian troops. Meanwhile, PV plant owners are beginning to face serious financial difficulties due to power supply disruption or damages caused by the hostilities.

Rystad Energy has joined BloombergNEF with a significant forecast for gray and blue hydrogen off the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the analysts, the impact of the war has sent prices of fossil fuel-tied forms of hydrogen production surging, leaving the gradual but consistent downward price trend of green hydrogen now looking remarkably competitive.

Trade body the Ukrainian Association of Renewable Energy says more than 70% of the nation’s solar fields are either in, or near regions which have been affected by the fighting.