Energy sector partnership was top of the agenda during the 2019 Norwegian-Ukrainian Business Forum in Oslo on 28 January.
The well-attended annual event witnessed the signing of a joint statement on strengthening energy cooperation between the two countries, along with a series of individual investment agreements focusing on the renewable energy sector.
Norwegian renewable energy company Scatec Solar and Ukraine’s SM Invest & Construction signed a purchase agreement envisioning EUR 180 million in investment.
Fellow Norwegian renewables sector company NBT signed a shareholder agreement with Ukraine’s Finansovi Strategii as part of a EUR 1 billion wind farm in southern Ukraine, while Norsk Solar signed an agreement on the construction of a Kyiv region solar plant involving a EUR 9.2 million investment.
While growing numbers of international companies invest in Ukraine’s renewables sector, there are signs that the Ukrainian population is also embracing the opportunities presented by alternative energy.
According to figures released by Ukraine’s State Agency for Energy Efficiency, 4,500 households installed solar power panels during 2018, more than doubling the national capacity and creating a new total figure of 7,500 homes.
By comparison, the number of solar power plants installed in 2017 was 1,901. The current regional leaders in terms of homes with solar power generation plants are Dnipropetrovsk (882 homes), Kyiv (838), Ternopil (664), Ivano-Frankivsk (484), and Kirovohrad (469).