Ukrainian solar braces for policy spat as major project goes live

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Ukrainian parliament buildings in Kiev (Image credit: Jennifer Boyer / Flickr)

The past recent weeks have brought mixed blessings to Ukraine’s solar ecosystem, with a row over policy changes breaking out only hours after the launch of the country’s largest PV plant to date.

Clean energy association UARE slammed the government late last week over what it described as “threats” to retroactively review investment guarantees to renewable projects, via a draft law recently approved by Ukrainian MPs.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The so-called Draft Law 2236-2 – which limits compensation to 150MW-plus renewable projects when the grid operator decides to curtail generation – not only “violates” Ukraine’s domestic legislation but also its global pledges under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and other agreements, UARE said.

“If Ukraine breaks the commitments it undertook as a state, it will result in reputation damage … among existing and potential investors,” the association noted in a letter, warning that retroactive reviews could invite international arbitration cases resulting in losses for Ukrainian taxpayers.

UARE urged Ukraine’s policymakers to back renewables and transform its fossil fuel-based energy system, one of the world’s “most technically and morally obsolete.” The country, the association said, should privatise coal mines and invest billions of euros in pumped storage plants.

“The government does not properly inform Ukrainian citizens about the disastrous technical and financial conditions of the [energy] sector”, its letter read, noting that the high obsolescence rates of Soviet-era coal and nuclear plants means all must close or be fully overhauled within 15 years.

“Citizens are completely unaware of the actual costs of traditional generaiton,” the association said. “The price of 'cheap' nuclear generation does not take into account the full costs … including €15 billion allocated in the next 15 years to decommissioning [costs].”

Risen-equipped 240MW Pokrovska goes live in Nikopol

For Ukrainian solar, the policy controversy emerged hours after the industry witnessed the operational launch of the largest plant seen in the country to date.

Late last week, energy giant DTEK held a ceremony to mark the powering-up of 240MW Pokrovska. Deployed in the Dnipropetrovsk region, to the southeast of capital Kiev, the installation began supplying Ukraine’s grid in October.

In a statement, DTEK – a firm claiming to employ 73,000 and produce one-quarter of Ukraine’s energy supply – underscored the Ukrainian credentials of the large-scale project, which took eight months to conclude construction.

“Pokrovska SPP is a project implemented by Ukrainian companies and specialists,” the firm said. “16 enterprises took part in the construction and supplied services and products with a total contract value of 48 million euros” [or US$53 million].

According to DTEK, Pokrovska will generate an annual solar power output of 400GWh and help Ukraine slash CO2 emissions by 420,000 tonnes every year. Installed at a former mining quarry in the Nikopol district, the 840,000-panel plant secured modules from Chinese supplier Risen.

“With the experience we gained with our previous projects we have built a professional team, procured and installed electrical equipment from the best world manufacturers,” said DTEK’s CEO Maksim Timchenko, adding that Pokrovska required investments of €193 million (US$215 million).

The operational kick-off of a 240MW project finds Ukrainian PV at a time of growth. Utility-scale projects are making progress as analysts predict momentum will speed up after a shift to deregulated auctions.

See here to read UARE's statement in full

The prospects and challenges of solar's new era in Europe and beyond will take centre stage at Solar Media's Solar Finance & Investment Europe (London, 5-6 February) and Large Scale Solar Europe 2020 (Lisbon, on 31 March-1 April 2020).

2 December 2025
Málaga, Spain
Understanding PV module supply to the European market in 2026. PV ModuleTech Europe 2025 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, traceability of supply-chain, factory auditing, module testing and reliability, and company bankability.
10 March 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
The conference will gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing out to 2030 and beyond.

Read Next

June 30, 2025
Eni subsidiary Plentiude has started operations at the northern block of its 330MW Renopool solar portfolio in Spain.
June 30, 2025
Voting on the US tax reconciliation bill is expected to begin in the Senate today, following a draft published on Friday that hit clean energy tax credits hard.
June 30, 2025
Australian module manufacturer Tindo Solar has secured a 30MW solar module supply agreement to power Australia's first "net zero pipeline”.
June 27, 2025
Renewables investment platform Nexwell Power has signed a round of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with “one of the largest” US tech companies for solar PV capacity to be built in Spain.
June 27, 2025
Statkraft has signed PPAs with Better Energy to purchase energy from two solar power plants in Poland with a total capacity of 64GWh.
June 27, 2025
Solar developer Lightsource bp has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with a subsidiary of Taiwanese energy firm HD Renewable Energy (HDRE).

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
July 2, 2025
Bangkok, Thailand
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico