It generates 5% of the total consumption of our region and is capable of fully supplying energy, for example, to three cities the size of Sambir.
This was announced by Maksym Kozytskyi, the head of the Lviv Regional State Administration.
The total cost of the project is 75 million euros. The Czech company MND and the Ukrainian group of companies Eco-Optima invested 50% each. This is the largest foreign investment in the Lviv region and in Ukraine during the full-scale war.
The electricity generated by 10 powerful wind turbines around the clock is transmitted through a 14-kilometre line to a Ukrenergo substation, from where it is distributed according to the needs of towns and villages.
Before I could bring you this very encouraging news for the development of alternative energy in Ukraine, Ukrainian investors had to solve many problems that had stalled the project.
For example, at the end of 2021, they paid for the equipment, its delivery and installation, as this has always been done exclusively by foreign companies, but when the full-scale war began, everyone refused to transport it to Ukraine. Foreign specialists did not dare to come to us either. However, Eco-Optima took this challenge as an opportunity: we purchased a 600-tonne crane for the installation of wind farm components, which is the only one in Ukraine.
The plant was installed and commissioned exclusively by Ukrainian specialists, who were recruited from all over the country.
I am grateful to Tomáš Kopeční, the Czech government’s commissioner for the reconstruction of Ukraine, and Jana Hamršmidová, CEO of MND’s energy division, and all our Czech colleagues who dared to implement this project together with the Ukrainian side in such a difficult time. I am grateful to every person in Ukraine who contributed to make this project a success.
Ukreximbank became a partner in the project. This is very important because the wind farm makes all payments to the Ukrainian bank. All taxes go to the budget of our country.
This wind farm already generates 12% of alternative energy in the Lviv region. 20 such plants can ensure complete energy independence of our region.
A valuable bonus to the construction of the wind farm was the creation of new jobs, good roads to settlements where there were none at all, and the influx of tourists to the towns and villages around the power plant.
The more local decentralised energy sources we have, the more stable our energy system will be. We are already working on the next such projects in our region.