New solar plant commissioned at Chornobyl NPP with support from UNDP, Lithuania and Japan
A new 2 MW photovoltaic power plant has started operating at the Chornobyl NPP industrial site. It will serve as an additional backup power source for the New Safe Confinement (NSC). The completion of construction was marked with an official ceremony on 9 September.
The project was carried out with the support of UNDP and the governments of Lithuania and Japan. Back in 2024, Lithuania provided 7,296 solar panels and 17 grid-tie inverters as humanitarian aid through the AidEnergy platform. The plant was installed by UNDP with financial support from the Government of Japan of approximately USD 825,000.
What the project's participants say
Alexander De Croo, UNDP Administrator and UN Coordinator of International Cooperation on Chornobyl, who served as Prime Minister of Belgium for five years, noted that UNDP supports the development of renewable energy in Ukraine to strengthen energy resilience and accelerate the shift to green energy. In his words, the new plant is currently UNDP's largest solar project in Ukraine and embodies these efforts at a site whose safety is of global importance.
Japan's Ambassador to Ukraine Yo Osumi recalled decades of cooperation between the two countries in dealing with the aftermath of the Chornobyl disaster, and the shared experience of the accidents at the Chornobyl and Fukushima nuclear power plants. He stressed that this cooperation continues by strengthening the resilience of the Chornobyl NPP and supporting its transition to clean energy sources, and that Japan overall steadfastly helps Ukraine protect critical infrastructure and build long-term resilience.
Construction and figures
Installing the equipment and connecting it to the Chornobyl NPP grid took four months, with a team of 12 specialists. They mounted photovoltaic modules on 180 mounting structures using roughly 90 tonnes of steel, laid about 60 kilometres of cable, and equipped the grounding, electrical and lightning protection systems required to commission the plant.
The plant is expected to generate more than 2 million kWh of electricity a year, covering about 5% of the electricity consumption of the Chornobyl NPP's infrastructure facilities and reducing energy supply costs.
Chornobyl NPP Director General Serhii Tarakanov said the sunny weather made it a perfect day for the launch, and noted that from that day the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant is generating electricity again for the first time since 2000, when its last nuclear unit was shut down, and that this is now clean solar energy. He thanked the governments of Japan and Lithuania and UNDP for their long-standing support of Ukraine and the plant, and stressed that the project became reality thanks to them.