Largest wind power plant in Europe set to become a reality with Danish-Ukrainian joint investment project
Photo: dtek.com
On Monday, December 4, the Ukrainian electricity company DTEK group and Danish company Vestas signed a Memorandum of Understanding to finalize the construction of the largest wind power station in Eastern Europe.
This project is supported by the European Commission and the governments of Ukraine and Denmark. The installed capacity of the Tylihul Wind Power Station (WPS) will be 500 MW, with total project investments exceeding €650 million, Rubryka reports.
The Memorandum of Understanding between DTEK and Vestas, a leading global manufacturer of wind turbines, outlines that the Danish company will supply wind turbines to Ukraine for the construction of the second phase of the Tylihul WPS.
The memorandum was signed at the UN Climate Conference COP28 with the EU Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, and the Minister of Energy of Ukraine, Herman Halushchenko.
The second phase of the WPS will consist of 64 wind turbines (6 MW each) with a total capacity of 384 MW. The first phase, with a capacity of 114 MW, was commissioned in the spring of 2023.
Ultimately, both the first and second phases of the DTEK Tylihulska WPS will have a capacity of 500 MW (83 wind turbines).
The station will be capable of producing about 1.7 TWh of electricity annually, sufficient to meet the needs of 900,000 households. The project is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 1.7 million tons annually.
DTEK is ready to start the construction of the second phase of the WPS in the second quarter of 2024 and complete the construction by the end of 2025. The gradual connection of the installed wind turbines to the grid is expected by the end of 2024.
Investments in the second phase of the Tylihul WPS will amount to €450 million and will be financed by the company's funds, as well as leading Western banks under state guarantees.
The WPS project aligns with the concept of distributed generation development in Ukraine, supported by President Volodymyr Zelensky. Assets like wind turbines, spread over a large area, are more resilient during wartime. Such projects bring Ukraine closer to its ultimate goal of becoming a green energy hub for Europe.
The Tylihul WPS project is developed in accordance with DTEK shareholder Rinat Akhmetov's long-term strategy for achieving carbon neutrality and integration into the single market of the European Union.
"This is another testament to the high trust of Western investors in the DTEK Group, which has repeatedly confirmed its reputation as a responsible partner. We believe in Ukraine's victory and do not wait for the end of the war to attract our own and Western capital to create new infrastructure," said DTEK CEO Maksym Timchenko. "Today, we are not only restoring what the occupiers are so persistently destroying but also building a new Ukrainian energy, new power plants. The Tylihul WPS will significantly increase the resilience of the energy system, help strengthen the country's energy security, and make Ukraine a regional leader in decarbonization and the energy hub of Europe."
Photo: dtek.com
Henrik Andersen, CEO of VESTAS, stressed, "We are very pleased to expand our cooperation with DTEK and the construction of the Tylihulska WPS, which will contribute to the restoration of Ukraine's energy sector and demonstrate the country's openness to business. The project became a reality under extraordinary circumstances, and we look forward to working together with DTEK in the final stage of the contract's conclusion. Infrastructure projects of this scale in Ukraine now require additional guarantees due to risks, and we believe that implementing such an ambitious project can underscore the EU's support for Ukraine. I would like to express appreciation for DTEK's visionary leadership — thank you for the trust you place in VESTAS."
About Tylihul WPS
Located in the southern Mykolaiv region, 400 km from Kyiv, 85 km from the Moldovan border, and 10 km from the Black Sea, the plant is the world's first wind power station built during wartime, with a capacity of 114 MW produced by 19 Vestas EnVentus V162-6.0 MW wind turbines.
It was commissioned in May 2023 at a cost of €200 million and will have annual electricity production of 390 million kWh (enough to power 200,000 homes).
Background
The UN Climate Change Conference COP28 takes place from November 30 to December 12 in Dubai, UAE. Ukraine has joined the declaration of participating countries in the UN Climate Change Conference COP28.
Ukraine has also opened its own pavilion at the UN Climate Summit, aiming to showcase Ukraine's resilience and efforts to combat the climate crisis, as explained by the Ministry of Ecology. Ukraine's pavilion at COP28 will operate in Dubai until the end of the summit on December 12.
The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine and the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security of Italy have signed a memorandum of joint renewable energy development.
Ukraine has also supported the global call on glaciers and poles and joined an important international initiative on cryosphere preservation.
