Ukraine plans up to 1GW wind farm in Chernobyl nuclear disaster zone

Five years after a small solar farm was built at the site, Ukraine has unveiled plans to develop a potentially huge wind power plant in the Chernobyl exclusion zone – the site of the worst nuclear power plant disaster in world history.

Der Spiegel reports that a declaration of intent was signed this week between German-based developer Notus Energy, the Ukrainian government and electricity transmission system operator Ukrenergo, to build an up to 1,000MW wind farm, capable of supplying power to around 800,000 homes – including in the capital Kyiv.

Notus has reportedly already completed a preliminary assessment of the area and developed the wind farm’s master plan.

“A wind farm of this size would make a substantial contribution to the expansion of renewable energies in Ukraine and strengthen the independence and decentralisation of Ukraine’s energy supply,” said Hannes Helm, the head of project development in Ukraine for the Notus Energy Group.

“We want to make a contribution to the reconstruction and transformation of Ukraine’s energy supply.”

Plans to make use of the exclusion zone around the Chornobyl power plant, which suffered a catastrophic meltdown in 1986, have been in the works for some time, according to Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi, Ukraine’s first deputy minister of environment protection and natural resources.

The need to diversify Ukraine’s power supply has become more urgent since its invasion by Russia nearly 18 months ago, which has included repeated attacks on energy infrastructure.

Notus says the Chernobyl area is ideal to host a wind farm due to it being socially isolated since the nuclear accident, and with its easy access to existing power network infrastructure. The zone is located around 150km from Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

“Even before the full-scale invasion, we had strategic plans to transform the Chernobyl Zone into a Recovery Zone,” said Ukraine’s Krasnolutskyi.

“The war did not change them but temporarily suspended them.

“The partnership with Notus Energy is a positive example for international investors that the exclusion zone is an attractive and promising area for the development of not only renewable energy but also other environmentally friendly technical solutions.”

The announcement to move ahead on the huge new wind plans was made on the sidelines of a visit to Ukraine by German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, who toured a number of the war-torn country’s power plants and was briefed on its energy supply plans for the upcoming winter.

“Green electricity from Chernobyl is the future version of the world,” said Baerbock, who co-chairs Germany’s Alliance 90/Greens party, adding that Ukraine should make broader use of renewable energy sources to boost its independence.

A Facebook post from Ukraine’s ministry of environment says Notus has already completed the preliminary assessment plan and the project master plan for the wind farm.

The next stage will involve wind surveying, technical and economic grounding of the electrical network, environmental research and the land deduction process, it says.

Confusingly, this post also says that the planned wind farm could power 1,000 homes – which would make it a tiny project of just one or two turbines. Given the Der Spiegel report, and others derived from it, it looks like this is an error.

Read more: Solar brings new energy to Chernobyl nuclear disaster zone