UKRAINE'S WIND ENERGY SECTOR, 2010 Report
Licencing System
WIND ENERGY IN UKRAINE: STATE OF THE ART
The total Installed capacity of Ukrainian wind farms was about 89 MW as of beginning of 2008. Currently operational Ukrainian wind farms mainly consist of the old model wind turbines with a capacity of 107, 5 kW. Since June 2003, the Belgian-built Turbowinds 600 kW turbines have also been assembled in Ukraine, with towers and blades manufactured locally.
All the Ukrainian wind farms so far have been constructed under the “Complex Programme for Wind Farms Construction” adopted by the Ukrainian Government in 1997. Ukraine belongs to the country where manufacturing production of wind turbines (licensed USW 56-100 turbines, a US originated model with a capacity of 107, 5 kW) has been set up. Twenty three former military-industrial plants are now involved in component manufacturing while assembly is carried out at the Yuzhnyi Machinery plant in Dnipropetrovsk, the former rocket-building plant.
According to the Complex Wind Programme 1990 MW of wind capacity is to be installed by 2010. By 2030, 20-30% of the country’s electricity production is to be covered by wind power generation.
The main problem that has restricted the development of wind power in Ukraine is the lack of financing. Presidential Decree #159 on Construction of Wind Farms of 02.03.1996 specified the Complex Wind Programme financing through 0,75% extra charge on all electricity sales that is equivalent to totally estimated amount of about 20 mln euro per year. However, due to non-payments and debts in Ukraine’s energy sector, in reality the Programme got only about 20% of its planned financing. Therefore, the Programme development was delayed.
In February 2006, the Government cancelled the 0,75% tariff imposed on electricity rates and instead approved a fixed annual budget – about 13, mln euro. Since April 2007 the National Space Agency of Ukraine has coordinated the Complex Wind Farms Constriction Programme in the country. Unfortunately national wind industry so far has not been so much positively influenced with all these changes.
Some attempts have been made by Ukrainian scientists in designing their own models of wind machines. Thus, specialists of Ukrainian Construction Bureau “Yuzhnoye” proposed their own “alternatives” to the licensed projects but Ukrainian-designed turbine AVE -250 and 420 kW vertical axis turbine failed.
