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Chernobyl nuclear ruins: A wind farm is to be built in the exclusion zone
Photo: IMAGO/iryna_rasko / IMAGO/YAY Images
The German energy company Notus wants to develop a wind farm in the exclusion zone of the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl. A corresponding declaration of intent was signed together with the Ukrainian state electricity grid operator Ukrenergo on the sidelines of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock's (Greens) visit to Ukraine. This is reported by Notus. Baerbock traveled to the country attacked by Russia on Monday.
According to Notus, the area has the potential to supply 800,000 households around Kyiv with wind power. The estimated capacity is 1000 megawatts. "A wind farm of this size would make a substantial contribution to the expansion of renewable energies in Ukraine and strengthen the independence and decentralization of Ukraine's energy supply," said Hannes Helm, Managing Director of the Ukrainian project development company of the Notus Energy Group: "We want to make a contribution to the reconstruction and transformation of Ukraine's energy supply."
Low-conflict area
According to the company, one advantage of building a wind farm in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which exploded in 1986, is that the area is low-conflict from a social and environmental point of view. According to the company, a zone that is currently unused today can be used sustainably.
The zone is located in the Kiev region and is about 150 kilometers from the capital. According to its own information, the Potsdam-based company Notus energy has been active in Ukraine since 2019.
During her visit to Ukraine, Baerbock was informed about the preparations for the energy supply in winter and visited an electricity substation. Again and again, Russia attacks infrastructure facilities in Ukraine. Despite all efforts to protect it, the energy supply is considered fragile.
PTZ/dpa