A giant, 64-megawatt solar power plant, the second largest in the country, opened on March 19 in Kamianets-Podilskyi district of Khmelnitsky Oblast, some 430 kilometers southwest from Kyiv.
It’s the latest addition to Ukraine’s booming renewable power industry.
Ukraine’s top investment fund ICU and London-based alternative asset management company VR Capital Group built the plant just in seven months at a cost of $55 million in the village Panovtsy, according to ICU’s press service.
The plant has the capacity to supply electricity to one-third of all the households in Kamianets-Podilskyi, a city of about 100,000 people. At the same time, it will decrease Ukraine’s carbon emissions by 67,000 tons annually.
And investors have more projects in Ukraine.
“This is one of three joint projects that we are currently working on with VR Capital. We plan to launch soon the second of our solar power stations, with a capacity of 35 megawatts, located in the Kherson region,” said Makar Paseniuk, a managing partner of ICU, according to an ICU press release.
The high interest in the renewable energy of Ukraine, both among domestic and foreign investors, including Canada’s TIU, Spain’s Acciona, and Norway’s NBT, is being generated by Ukraine’s attractive green tariff – the premium Ukraine pays for electricity generated from renewable sources.
“Foreign investors have taken note of the tremendous progress in Ukraine in the face of great adversity since the events of EuroMaidan in 2014,” said Richard Deitz, the president of VR Capital Group on the launch of the new solar power plant.
Podilskenergo
The plant will be operated by the little-known company Podilskenergo, which is co-owned by ICU and VR Capital Group.
The State Treasury Service of Ukraine paid the company Hr 118.2 million, or $4.3 million, in VAT (Value added tax) reimbursements on March 14, Interfax reported.
It was second largest such payment, coming to around 10 percent of the total amount, after agrarian giant Kernel-trade, which received Hr 812.5 million, or nearly $30 million.
According to ICU, this was a direct refund of VAT previously paid by the company to the state budget on the sum it paid to the general contractor – Ukrainian energy holding KNESS – to build the plant.
Media have previously reported that there are close ties between ICU and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and that Paseniuk was Poroshenko’s financial adviser, who was also hired to manage the sale of Poroshenko’s Roshen candy company.
However, ICU and Paseniuk deny having any links with Poroshenko or the government.
