One of Europe’s most promising emerging renewables markets found itself a war zone on Thursday as Russia launched a wide-ranging military operation in Ukraine – in a bitter irony just as the nation planned to start disentangling its energy system from its giant neighbour's.
The future shape of events in Ukraine – which has also been tipped as a potential major supplier of green hydrogen to the EU – was shrouded in uncertainty as President Vladimir Putin’s forces attacked on several fronts.
The attack came on the day the Ukrainian power system was due to start three days of operation in ‘isolation mode’ from the Russian and Belarussian networks with which it has been historically entwined, in what had been billed as a key test of future synchronisation with the European ENTSO-E grid.
Maxim Timchenko, CEO of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest energy group, said on Wednesday before the attacks: “I am sure that we will go through these four days with dignity, we will pass this exam and the energy system of Ukraine will soon become a part of the European energy system.”
On the wider emergency for his country, Timchenko said: “We are ready to consolidate and do everything possible, everything that depends on us in order to stabilise the situation and be confident in our future.
“As a representative of Ukrainian business who is responsible for strategic infrastructure – power plants, mines, grids – I am convinced that the situation will remain stable, there will be enough coal, enough electricity.”
Even though its green transition policies have frequently been criticised by its own energy industry, Ukraine has consistently looked to renewable energy as a way to secure more independence of supply.
Major wind projects underway
In the renewables sector, the Russian hostility also raised questions over the future of one of eastern Europe’s largest wind developments, the 500MW Tiligul project that is under construction by DTEK in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region.
Tiligul, due for completion later in 2022, represented the largest order yet in Eastern Europe for wind OEM Vestas when it agreed a deal last year to supply its 6MW EnVentus turbines to the project’s second phase.
A spokesperson for DTEK told Recharge on Wednesday – before the outbreak of full-scale hostilities – that it still hoped to meet operational deadlines, but this could be impacted if tensions with Russia persisted. “We are preparing for the potential of this force majeure situation by working with Vestas, our partner in this project, to ensure we have the workforce available for completion,” said the DTEK spokesperson.
Vestas, which also has major wind power operations in Russia itself, told Recharge it was too early to comment on the situation in Ukraine.
Norway-based developer Emergy had already paused another major wind power project Ukraine, the 340MW initial phases of the Zophia development on the shores of the Azov Sea in the nation’s south, citing the geopolitical situation.
Ukraine was in 2020 identified by the EU as a potential key source of green hydrogen imports into the bloc – but with Russian military aggression in full swing, the focus of Brussels and other western nations will now be more focused on measures to secure the very sovereignty of its eastern neighbour.
Sanctions have already seen Germany pause certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, in a move some believe could accelerate the green transition in Europe's largest economy.
