The official opening ceremony of the SOLAR CHERNOBYL Solar Power Plant (hereinafter – SPP) was held at the Chornobyl NPP industrial site on 5 October. The event was attended by the Acting Director General of SSE ChNPP Valeriy Seyda, CEO of Solar Chernobyl Limited and Consortium “RODINA - ENERPARC AG” Yevhen Variahin, Co-founder and Shareholder of “Enerparc AG” Stefan Muller, Executive Director of “Enerparc International GmbH” Oliver Herzog, senior staff of Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ukraine, delegation of German-Ukrainian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK Ukraine), delegation of Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, representatives of SC “Energorynok”, and others.
“Chornobyl NPP was named the first one a number of times. The first NPP of Ukraine, the first NPP being under decommissioning, the first NPP where the large-scale projects are under implementation... Today we are the first NPP at the site of which the alternative energy is being generated. I believe that this is very positive that electrical capacities are present at the Plant again, and they are in commercial production – electrical energy is being produced,” – mentioned Mr. Seyda in the course of the celebrations on the occasion of opening the SPP.
Physical works under the construction project of the first 1.0 MWp SPP were started in October 2017. 3,762 solar modules were installed, transforming sub-stations were built and equipped, and physical protection system was created during the construction process.
The SOLAR CHERNOBYL is a joint project of the consortium “RODINA - ENERPARC AG”. The project objective is to implement renewable energy projects within the areas affected by the Chornobyl disaster. Construction of solar parks within the contaminated areas enables Ukraine to use these lands in economic activity.
As noted by Messrs. Muller and Herzog in the course of the official opening ceremony of the SPP, “SOLAR CHERNOBYL is a project of successful long-term co-operation of the Ukrainian and German companies as the project initiators, organizers and executors.” However, the investors emphasized that they had had some doubts about the feasibility of such project within the Exclusion Zone: “Nevertheless, the first Solar Power Plant within the Chornobyl zone are constructed and delivers electric current. It is an example of transparent attraction of German investments, engineering expertise and local professional experience in implementation of SPP projects in Ukraine.”
