DTEK Renewables and Danish company Vestas, the world leader in production of wind turbines, have signed a joint venture agreement for the first stage of construction of DTEK’s Tiligulska wind power project (WPP), with a capacity of 126 MW, in the Mykolaiv region, Ukraine. Financing for the first stage will be drawn from funds raised by DTEK Renewables Finance BV’s green bonds issued in 2019. This project represents both an effective step for the DTEK Group in achieving carbon neutrality by 2040 and Ukraine's alignment with the European Green Deal program.
As part of the new 2030 Strategy, DTEK has committed to transforming the company into a greener, more efficient and technologically advanced business. Successful implementation of this strategy will further develop sustainable generating capacities and will represent another significant step by the DTEK Group in pursuit of global decarburization.
DTEK Tiligulska WPP (Mykolaiv region, Ukraine) will install innovative onshore wind turbines from Vestas. Thanks to the latest technological advancements, they will be able to maximize power generation in low to medium wind conditions. Moreover, a new generation of wind turbines was approved for industrial production in the early weeks of 2021 and DTEK’s wind farm will be one of the first enterprises to utilize them.
Preparatory works are currently being completed on DTEK’s Tiligulska WPP site, with construction beginning in March and lasting up to the end of 2021. The new wind farm’s initial capacity of 126MW will help reduce CO2 emissions by 504’000 tons per year. Moreover, the ensuing construction work will create several hundreds temporary and dozens of permanent jobs in the region.
The scalability of the wind farm will also allow it to increase installed capacity to 564 MW, if required.
To finance the construction of the first phase of DTEK Tiligulska WPP, the company is planning to partially use the funds raised through its green Eurobonds issuance. The bonds were issued in 2019 for an amount of 325 million Euros, with maturity of five years. They are listed on the Euronext Dublin Stock Exchange. Under the terms of the placement, the funds raised can only be used for renewable energy projects.
“When, in 2019, the first green Eurobonds of DTEK Renewables were listed on the European stock exchange, we, as a company, took responsibility for implementing projects in Ukraine. We became the “face” of Ukrainian “green” energy in Europe and across the world, said Maris Kunickis, CEO of DTEK Renewables. As a reliable partner, today we are ready to fulfill our obligations even during such a difficult time. We will continue to invest in clean and affordable energy and develop the renewable energy industry in Ukraine. We expect that the crisis related to non-payments for the renewable energy sector will be resolved soon, and the state policy regarding renewable energy will become understandable and predictable. This will allow investors from all over the world to look towards Ukraine again. In fact, this is our message to the world: ‘Green’ energy in Ukraine has a future. "
“We're proud to be partnering with DTEK Renewables on the important Tiligulska project, the first order for our EnVentus platform in Eastern Europe," said Nils de Baar, President of Vestas Northern & Central Europe. "DTEK's commitment to ensuring the clean energy transition is being led by Ukraine and being delivered by best-in-class wind turbine technology is an important signal for the country. We applaud the ambition of the Tiligulska project, and the confidence shown by DTEK in our technology as we continue to lower the cost of clean, renewable wind energy with the EnVentus platform".
DTEK Tiligulska WWP will install 21 Vestas wind turbines with a capacity of 6 MW each. The Danish manufacturer previously tested prototypes of the latest turbines on the EnVentus platform at the Østerild National Large Turbine Test Center in West Jutland, Denmark. This model is the largest onshore wind turbine in the Vestas portfolio in terms of rotor size, spanning 162 meters from tip to tip. The innovative turbines are suitable for low to medium wind speeds, ideal for wind power generation in southern Ukraine. With more than a 25% performance improvement over previous models, the V162-6.0 MW turbine is setting a new standard for onshore wind farms.
