Wind Farm in a War Zone: Vestas Announces 384 MW for Project in Ukraine

Danish wind developer Vestas A/S and Ukraine’s DTEK Renewables are adding nearly 400 MW of new capacity to a wind farm they’ve already built between Mykolaiv and Odessa, about 400 kilometres south of Kyiv.

The partners have been running the 114-MW Tyligulska I facility—in a dangerous war zone—since the spring of 2023, Vestas said in a release. Now, an additional 64 turbines will bring the wind farm’s total capacity up to 498 MW.

A Vestas executive announced the deal during last week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, at a side event honouring this year’s Corporate Knights Global 100. Vestas places third on that list, with an operation that boasts 100% sustainable revenue and investments and a certified 1.5°C target.

“The atmosphere soared as Vestas revealed a significant achievement: finalizing a deal earlier in the day with Ukraine for a 400-MW wind farm—within a war zone,” Corporate Knights Director of Research Ralph Torrie wrote on LinkedIn. “The resilience of wind farms shone through, with the fact that it takes 100 times more missiles to destroy a wind farm compared to a single gas plant, showcasing their durability and importance in challenging environments.”

The deal includes a financial guarantee from the state-owned Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO). Turbines will begin arriving onsite in the first quarter of this year, and the expanded site is set to be fully commissioned by the last three months of 2026.

After that, Vestas will service Tyligulska under a 20-year contract.

“Today’s agreement is a big step towards a new energy future for Ukraine. From a system threatened daily by attacks, we are building a resilient and secure energy infrastructure that also helps Ukraine deliver on its climate commitments,” DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko said in the Vestas release. “This deal signals not only our confidence in Ukraine, but our partners’ trust in DTEK to deliver major energy projects during a war.”

“We are proud to expand our partnership with DTEK and to deliver our technology solutions to the Tyligulska project that will power Ukraine’s energy system,” added Vestas President and CEO Henrik Andersen.

Power Magazine called Tyligulska I a “symbol of courage and invincibility” in a September 2023 post that traced the harrowing process of getting it built.

“You get off to a good start and have six turbines installed within the first few months, but then enemy forces invade your country and advance to within 100 kilometres (62 miles) of your site,” the industry publication wrote. “At that point, foreign partners choose to evacuate staff and equipment, and leave you holding the bag.”

DTEK was forced to halt construction, and couldn’t have been blamed for suspending the project indefinitely, Power Magazine recalled. But construction began again by summer 2022, with an all-Ukrainian crew that maxed out at 650 people. “Staff worked in bulletproof vests and spent more than 300 hours in bomb shelters from September 2022 through April [2023]. They were under the constant threat of missile strikes; yet, they persevered through it all.”

This week, a Vestas spokesperson did not respond to questions about the challenges of building a wind farm in a war zone, any past projects where this form of energy security has been a consideration, or the Tyligulska facility’s operational performance to date.

Cover photo: DTEK Renewables