Vestas stands firm in Ukraine as Russians overrun most turbines
Wind giant says it's 'showing it's possible to work' in war-torn country with start of construction on largest project
Vestas said it is “showing it is possible to work in Ukraine” by building new wind farms despite the majority of its turbines there falling under Russian control.
Jimeno told the event that Vestas already accounted for 880MW of Ukraine’s installed capacity – almost half the country’s total – although 70% of it is currently in Russian-held territory.
The OEM had already built the 114MW first phase, completed in 2023 after the invasion was underway.
The project is being realised with strong support from authorities in Denmark, Ukraine and the EU and it is backed by a financial guarantee from EIFO, the state-owned Export and Investment Fund of Denmark.
The Ukrainian government at the conference, organised by the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association, confirmed more than half the country's total wind power capacity is now in Russian hands.
The war-torn European nation has made wind power a key plank of its energy resilience since it was invaded by its giant neighbour, but Yuriy Shafarenko, a senior official from the economic department of President Volodymyr Zelensky, told an industry conference the majority of commissioned capacity is now in Russian-occupied areas.
Another 40MW has been destroyed or damaged.
“These are big losses, but Ukraine is already showing that it is not stopping," Shafarenko added.
He expects 200MW to be commissioned this year and Ukraine hopes to install 4GW of new capacity by 2030.
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