Published September 13,2023
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A German wind energy company is partnering with Ukraine in hopes of developing a wind farm in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor.
The company, NOTUS, announced on Tuesday that it had signed a letter of intent for the project with Ukrainian state-owned electric grid operator Ukrenergo during German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock's visit to Ukraine earlier this week.
The exclusion zone around the Chernobyl plant has the potential to produce 1,000 megawatts of wind power and supply 800,000 households in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, according to NOTUS estimates.
The area has been largely evacuated since 1986, when one of the plant's nuclear reactors suffered a catastrophic meltdown in what remains one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.
"A wind farm of this size would make a substantial contribution to the expansion of renewable energy in Ukraine and strengthen the independence and decentralization of Ukraine's energy supply," Hannes Helm, managing director of NOTUS Energy Group's Ukrainian project development company, said in a statement. "We want to contribute to the reconstruction and transformation of Ukraine's energy supply."
According to the company, one advantage of setting up a wind farm in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is that the wind farm project will likely face little environmental or social opposition.
The zone is located about 150 kilometres north of the capital Kiev.
During her visit, Baerbock, Germany's foreign minister, learned about Ukraine's preparations to supply energy through the winter. Russia has launched repeated attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure during the ongoing invasion.
