Ukraine's wind power industry sees 2024 as failed year - specialized association head

MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) - New wind farms with capacity of up to 20 MW have been launched in Ukraine and 24 MW of used wind turbines have been imported since early 2024, head of the board of the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association Andrei Konechenkov said.

"Despite the crisis, companies are interested in further development of the wind energy sector. However, for my part, I would describe 2024 as a failed year," Ukrainian media quoted him as saying at a press briefing in Kiev on Thursday.

Konechenkov said that compared to 2023, when 238 MW of new wind generating capacity was put into operation in the country, only two turbines of 5.5 MW each of Eco Optima and two turbines of 4.8 MW each in the Ostrovsky wind farm of Wind Parks of Ukraine were connected to the grid this year.

The market for importing used turbines into the country has also started to develop very actively during the crisis, Konechenkov said. In particular, 13 such turbines with a total capacity of 24 MW have been delivered and installed in Ukraine since early 2024. The total capacity of similar deliveries reached 43 MW over the last eight years.

"The only problem is that when such turbines are supplied to Ukraine, they do not always undergo renovation [...]. However, the main point is that without supplier's guarantee, without additional components, and when turbines of unknown or non-existent companies are imported, such turbines will be brought to Ukraine, but they will not be operating," he said.