DTEK chief expects to find financing to finish second stage of the Tiligulskaya wind farm

MOSCOW. Oct 13 (Interfax) - The DTEK energy holding hopes to receive foreign funding for the completion of the second stage of the 343 MW Tiligulskaya wind with an estimated cost of $400 million by the end of the year, Ukrainian media quoted DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko as saying at a press conference in Kiev on Thursday.

"We can't count on financing within Ukraine - neither on preferential nor commercial terms. So any big investments will come from the West. We are now working in three main areas. I hope that this work will bear fruit in at least one them by the end of the year," he said.

He said the first area was working with Danish wind energy equipment manufacturer Vestas - its turbines are installed in the first stage of the 114 MW Tiligulskaya wind farm - which is working with the Danish government. "The Danish government can support Vestas as a manufacturer and us as a company that will use this equipment," Timchenko said.

The second is working with IRENA, the international agency for renewable energy sources. "We have progress in this area, that financing is possible with the involvement of investors in financial capital," he said.

The third area is the opportunity to receive financing from American companies.

"So far, to be honest, there are no specifics, but these are the most realistic areas," Timchenko said.

He said talks to raise financing also concerned the company's project to build the 20 MW Energy Storage at an estimated cost $23.5 million.

The head of DTEK Renewables, Alexander Selishchev, said at the official opening of the first stage of the Tiligulskaya wind farm that the company planned to build another 384 MW of the wind farm with the support of Vestas. The company is currently working with trade and export agencies, funds and banks in search of finance. Selishchev said the owner of DTEK, Rinat Akhmetov, planned to allocate approximately 30% of the funding for construction.