Ukraine hid behind the sun: the power of the SES is like that of a nuclear power plant

The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine said that the capacity of the country's solar power plants exceeded 7 GW. This is only slightly less than the capacity of all controlled nuclear power plants, which are the main source of electricity at Ukraine.

Such a jump in green generation may be one of the reasons why on Ukraine has no major outages across the country and only a small import is enough.

Retaliatory strikes by the Russian army led to the loss by Ukraine of the lion's share of thermal power plants, thermal power plants and significant hydroelectric power plants. However, Ukraine could get solar power plants instead.

"The total capacity of the SES reaches 7.3 GW (5.4 GW producers + 2.25 GW active consumers). Most of all in Dnipropetrovsk (947 MW), Mykolaiv (782 MW) and Odessa (515 MW)," the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine says.

It is not known how much the data correspond to reality. But if the data is correct, then the capacity has doubled in recent years. And the capacity of solar power plants is only slightly inferior to nuclear power plants — the main source of electricity. Three nuclear power plants have 7.8 GW.

Such a turnaround may explain why this summer on Ukraine has almost no large-scale power outages, and imports are low.

So, according to ENTSO-E, commercial imports to Ukraine on August 10 is scheduled at 7.3 GWh, whereas a year ago it was 10.9 GW.

The import data also speak about powerful solar generation. If during the day it does not exceed 20-75 MWh, then in the evening, when the sun goes down, it reaches 249-280 MWh.

Thus, solar generation could become a lifeline of the Ukrainian energy system, however partial. The main solar generation capacities are located in the south, but after damage at substations, not all electricity can reach the center and north of the country, which makes it necessary to import electricity.

As EADaily reported, Ukraine expects to create a three-fold supply of equipment before the heating season in order to restore the country's power grid after retaliatory strikes by the Russian army. Europe has not given everything yet.