Ukraine's Largest Energy Firm DTEK to Invest $470 Million in Wind Farm Expansion
DTEK, Ukraine's leading private energy company, announced plans on Wednesday to invest €450 million ($468.59 million) to significantly expand its Tyligulska Wind Power Plant, located near the Black Sea coast. The expansion will boost the plant's capacity from 114 MW to 500 MW, marking a substantial step toward strengthening Ukraine's renewable energy sector.
The company, owned by Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, revealed a financing agreement with lenders to purchase 64 wind turbines from Danish manufacturer Vestas. The investment will be largely funded through €370 million in bank loans backed by Denmark’s state-owned Export and Investment Fund (EIFO), with DTEK covering the remaining amount.
"This represents the largest private sector investment in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and the biggest private investment ever in the country’s energy sector," DTEK stated.
Once fully operational, the expanded Tyligulska wind farm is expected to generate 1.7 TWh of electricity annually, enough to power approximately 900,000 Ukrainian homes. The project is slated for completion by late 2026.
Since the onset of Russia’s military aggression, DTEK has faced extensive damage to its thermal power plants, with 90% of its thermal generation capacity reported offline as of mid-2023. Despite these challenges, the company has remained committed to renewable energy development.
The Tyligulska Wind Power Plant initially became operational in May 2023 and is located in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region, around 400 kilometers south of Kyiv.
(Note: €1 = $1.0414 at the current exchange rate.)