A GE turbine in Ukraine has been destroyed and a wind farm partially shut down following a “massive night attack” by Russian drones, said local industry officials.
UK developer Elementum Energy partially shut down its 100MW Dnistrovska wind farm after it was damaged yesterday, the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association (UWEA) told Recharge.
An amateur video seen by Recharge shows what the UWEA says is a 5.5MW GE turbine collapsed to the ground, with others still standing around it.
It is unclear if the attack specifically targeted the wind farm, but Russia has launched waves of attacks on Ukraine’s energy system since invading the country in 2022.
UWEA said it “cannot disclose more detailed information about the nature of the damage and losses” because local police have opened criminal proceedings and an investigation into the incident.
However it confirmed that no wind farm employees were injured.
The UWEA said the attack was a Russian “terrorist act” against Ukraine and its energy security.
It added that the incident has “become the subject of several fakes about unfavourable weather conditions that led to the damage.”
Elementum, which has offices in London and Kyiv, is an independent power producer focused on the development and operation of renewable energy assets in Ukraine, where it reports having 540MW of capacity.
It is owned by London-based hedge fund VR Capital.
Elementum brought the 40MW first stage of its Dnistrovska wind farm, featuring ten GE 137-4.0 MW wind turbines, online in 2021.
A second 60MW phase of the project featuring 11 5.5MW GE turbines was disrupted by Russia launching its invasion in 2022 but was ultimately brought online in June last year.
UWEA says that Elementum is one of just three developers that have managed to complete the construction of a wind farm in Ukraine during the war. GE provided remote technical assistance during the work.
Elementum Energy managing director Olga Rybachuk says the project was “personally important because the Ukrainian energy system was specifically being targeted” by Russia.
The UWEA says there have been no "special attacks on wind farms" since the outbreak of the war but many turbines close to fighting have been damaged.
The majority of commercial wind power plants (around 85%) are concentrated in the southern and southeastern regions of Ukraine, regions with the best wind and solar potential, which have been or are currently under Russian occupation.
The UWEA says that about 70% – or roughly 1.3GW – of total wind capacity installed in Ukraine is currently "out of operation" because it has either been damaged or is "under occupation."
