Austrian PV developer Activ Solar has completed construction work on the 116 hectare Nikolayevka Solar Park in Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine.
Commissioning began last week. When the 69.7MW plant, which generates 90,000 MWh of electricity per year, is completed, the total capacity of PV installed by Activ Solar in the Crimea – 296.95MWp across five parks – will be capable of delivering around 7% of the peninsula's total energy consumption.
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Over 290,000 modules and 52 inverters were used in construction and placed in a four-row mounting system. Construction involved around 350 workers and 10 members of permanent staff will be required to keep the plant operational. The plant is expected to reduce local carbon dioxide emissions by around 72,000 tonnes. Nikolayevka is planned to be connected to the UkrEnergo grid, Ukraine’s state-owned transmission system operator.
Activ Solar has built five large solar power stations in the Ukraine to date, in Crimea, Odessa and Mykolaiv. Bolgrad Solar Park, 34MW in size, was completed in mid-July. Nikolayevka is the third largest of Activ Solar’s Ukraine projects, with the 100MW plant in Perovo thought to be the largest solar plant in Europe when it was completed in January 2012.
Activ Solar chief executive officer Kaveh Ertefai stated that the project reconfirmed the company’s “commitment to support sustainable energy development in the country”, with the existing energy supply available at present in the Ukraine considered inadequate for the population’s needs. Activ Solar has several more projects ongoing in the Ukraine, and is expected to announce others in the near future.
