Record volume of alternative energy received in Crimea

With the help of renewable energy sources, 285.7 million kWh of electricity was received in Crimea over nine months of 2013.

The press service of the Cabinet informs about this.

"For the first nine months of 2013, with the help of renewable energy sources, Crimea obtained 285.7 million kWh of electricity, which corresponds to 30% of the total energy on the peninsula. According to experts, from January to September this year, solar electric plants produced 251.2 million kWh, wind power plants - 34.6 million kWh, covering together 6.6% of total energy consumption of Crimea," a statement reads.

In early November, the total installed capacity of "green" energy objects in Crimea was fixed at the level of 295.5 MW, including solar power - 227.3 MW and wind farms - 68.2 MW.

Experts believe that the region has a huge potential for alternative energy, primarily wind and solar. But construction of alternative power plants requires huge investments. For example, in order to build additional capacity of 1 MW, it is necessary to build high voltage networks over the entire region, to build new sub-stations, and this means billions in investment programs. By the way, a loan of more than a billion dollars received by Ukraine from China has been issued just for development of alternative energy, the experts remind.

According to experts, by 2020, Ukraine will increase the share of alternative energy of total electricity generation in the country to 15-20%.

There are good reasons for such an optimistic forecast. Today, the pace of alternative energy development in Ukraine beats all records. In 2013, the total installed capacity of solar power plants Ukrainian (SPP) increased by 51.4 %. And for three years, the total capacity of solar power plants in Ukraine has risen more than 100 times. As for the wind power plants (WPP), Ukraine can be an example for other countries. According to experts, Ukraine is the second largest in the world by the fastest growing of the wind energy industry.

Very rapid growth in the alternative energy sector is due to a noticeable influx of private investments in this sector. Their sum is currently more than USD 20 billion. But by 2015, the amount of investments in the "green" energy sector of Ukraine, according to experts, could reach USD 5 billion.

Adapted from Ukrinform