Chinese solar manufacturer Risen Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ukrainian firm Ascania Energy to deploy 100MW of solar PV capacity, alongside 200MWh of utility-scale batteries, in Ukraine.
Under the terms of the deal, Risen will supply PV modules and utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) to Ascania, which will lead local project developing and provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the projects. Ascania CEO and co-owner Yevhen Piatko said that investments in BESS, in particular, would be of benefit to Ukraine, which has endured significant damage to its energy infrastructure since its invasion by Russia in 2022.
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“Ukraine needs not only to restore the energy infrastructure damaged by the war, but also to build a more decentralised, flexible and resilient energy system,” said Piatko. “Our advantage is that we work across the energy value chain—from engineering and construction to energy management, trading and direct supply to customers.
The MoU follows a number of other solar-plus-storage investments in Ukraine. Earlier this year, Polish solar developer and investment platform ELQ announced plans to invest €2.5 billion (US$2.9 billion) to build solar PV and BESS projects in Ukraine.
Last year, PV Tech Premium also heard from Vladyslav Sokolovskyi, chairman of the board of the Solar Energy Association of Ukraine (SEAU), about how the war with Russia has impacted the country’s energy mix. Sokolovskyi said that the war has encouraged more investment in distributed energy generation and storage, as small-scale solar-plus-storage “can help Ukrainian society”.
Risen and Ascania’s deal, meanwhile, will see the former supply explicitly utility-scale batteries. As part of the MoU signing, Piatko and Ascania CTO Yehor Yarmolenko visited a Risen manufacturing facility. Risen said that, during this visit, the companies discussed its Hyper-ion Pro heterojunction (HJT) modules and its eTron series of liquid-cooled BESS, although they did not specify if these technologies would be supplied to Ascania as part of the MoU.
HJT modules have been a key part of Risen’s product offerings in recent months; in July, the company announced that it had started commercial production of Hyper-ion modules with an average power output of 740Wp and a conversion efficiency of 26.61%, which is a record figure for the company. The Hyper-ion Pro series, meanwhile, has a maximum power output of 745Wp.
