A Ukrainian wind farm has been shut down after a major Russian drone attack on energy infrastructure in Odesa that left parts of the region without electricity.
A wind farm and thermal power plant were both taken offline after Russian drones pummelled the port city of Odesa in an attack last night, according to Ukraine’s energy ministry.
The ministry reported today that energy use in the Odesa region had been limited following the overnight attack.
The ministry did not specify the wind farm that has been taken offline or if this was because it had been damaged.
Online database The Wind Power lists just two wind farms in the Odesa region.
One is the 32.4MW Ovid Wind farm, developed by Turkish construction and energy group Güriş and reportedly boasting nine GE Energy 3.6-137 turbines. Contacted by Recharge, Güriş said there had been no attack on the wind farm and it had not been asked to take it offline.
The other wind farm has reportedly been built by French renewables developer Valorem and is said to feature 40 turbines, although its capacity is unclear. Valorem was also approached for comment.
In January, Russian drones destroyed a GE turbine at another wind farm in Ukraine built by UK developer Elementum Energy southeast of Kyiv.
Russia has stepped up its missile and drone attacks against Ukraine in recent days. On Friday, Russian missiles hit the DniproHES hydroelectric dam, the largest in Ukraine, on the Dnipro river.
Ukraine’s state hydropower company, Ukrhydroenergo, has reassured that there is no risk of a dam break despite damage caused.
Ukrhydroenergo recently reported that it has begun preparing an international legal claim against Russia over attacks on its facilities.
That includes the destruction last year of the 357MW Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam on the Dnipro River, which caused catastrophic flooding and hundreds of deaths.
Russia had control over the dam when a massive breach occurred, for which it denies responsibility. The breach is thought to have been caused by explosives within the structure.
Ukraine's state-owned Oschadbank was meanwhile last week reported to have committed to finance a new 520MW wind farm in the west of the country.
