For the last six months, Ukraine has been suffering from the fact that the enemy is purposefully destroying the critical infrastructure of our state. It is especially difficult for hospitals to work in such conditions, where a power outage can cost human lives. It is vital in such cases to have reliable and stable sources of electricity. It is thanks to the modern solar power plant that the district hospital in the city of Zvyagel, Zhytomyr Region, operates reliably and stably, regardless of planned and emergency power outages. And although the solar plant only partially meets the needs of the hospital so far, it is already the first step towards energy security.
How did a district hospital with a rather limited budget manage to obtain and install a solar power plant, what power can it produce and what prospects does the management of the medical institution see in the further implementation of such technologies — EcoPolitic found out.
Zviagel (formerly Novohrad-Volynskyi) is located on the Sluch and Smolka rivers, on both sides of the Kyiv-Chop highway, equally distant from Rivne and Zhytomyr. It is interesting that here, at the community level, in cooperation with the local authorities, for more than ten years they have been actively engaged in attracting various eco-programs and international grants, energy-saving technologies, provision of both critical infrastructure and the housing sector, alternative sources of energy supply. Thanks to caring and progressive eco-activists, such developments appeared long before the start of a full-scale war, and today this work is actively ongoing. Thanks to this, the local hospital can work stably and regardless of power outages, because it managed to get its own solar power plant.
In this way, the hospital provides part of its own needs for now. Vasyl Borys, general director of the Zvyagel district of TMO, told in more detail about this.
"Attracting the project to Zvyagel was the initiative of the deputy mayor of the city, Iryna Gudz, who for many years has been very active in the direction of attracting grants for energy conservation and the introduction of alternative energy sources in the territory of our city. For the city budget, as well as for the hospital budget, this project did not cost a single hryvnias. The station was purchased with funds from philanthropists. In particular, money for the facility was collected at a charity marathon in the USA and handed over to Ukrainian activists for the development of energy security. We were approached with a proposal to install such a station in the hospital — and we supported this proposal. After all, it is clear that alternative sources of energy supply is the need of the hour, so there was no hesitation. The only question was where to place these solar panels - on the ground or on the building. In the end, it was decided to mount a solar station on the roof of one of our hospital premises," he said.
According to the head doctor, no more than two months passed from the idea to the implementation of the project.
"Somewhere in October, when the bombings began throughout our state, which caused long-term problems with energy supply, we submitted such an application, and already in December 2022, the station began to work. I am sincerely grateful to everyone who participated in the implementation of this project. I also want to note , that we were supplied with a very high-quality and modern solar power plant. This is evidenced by specialists who can give a professional assessment in such matters," added Boris.
The power of such a station is 32 kW, which it will produce in the season of the greatest solar activity — from March to October. In winter — less. Currently, while there is no sun, it is cloudy, it is snowing, the station produces about 10 kW. This is also very important, because every hryvnia saved will be used to solve other important issues of the hospital, such as the purchase of medicines or necessary medical equipment.
For now, all the generated energy will be transferred to the general network, they will not be stored, because the hospital does not have a battery. This station, as the doctors informed us, already produces electricity for the most important and critically dependent departments - the surgical and maternity and intensive care units.
According to all calculations, thanks to this station, the hospital will save more than 450 thousand hryvnias per year. With a total electricity consumption of 2.5-3 million hryvnias. And the total cost of the project is 840 thousand hryvnias. Thus, the entire project should pay for itself in just three years.
Funds for the installation of the SPP for the hospital were received by the public environmental protection organization Ekoclub as part of the "Sustainability4Ukraine" campaign from CSR.Ukraine and Dobro.UA. This is a 24-hour webathon in which organizations from around the world give lectures on the topic of sustainable development and encourage listeners to raise funds. In total, Ekoclub received 840 thousand hryvnias as part of the webathon.
Currently, generators are the main source of emergency power supply for the Zvyagel hospital. The largest of them has a capacity of 110 kW and six more less powerful generators — from seven to two and a half kW.
Zvyagel doctors really hope that the project will continue. After all, the Ecoclub made a film on this topic, which was broadcast in many European countries. It talks about the positive and great need of medical institutions of Ukraine for such stations. However, the doctors pointed out in general that there is another component — a storage battery. This project did not foresee such a thing, and its price is almost the same as the station - 800 thousand hryvnias. Thanks to this film, which was translated into English, benefactors were found who promised to help supply the necessary batteries. And it would be very good, because in the event of a shutdown, the hospital would have its own electricity, without the use of generators.
However, even now the solar station is enough to provide lighting and operation of the most necessary units of the medical facility — refrigerators, resuscitation, operating rooms.
Vasyl Borys told us that the local hospital was never affected by power outages, because even when there was a long blackout across Ukraine on October 12 and Zvyagel was left without electricity for 30 hours, everything in the hospital worked as usual. After all, the generator was purchased here back in August. Even then it became clear that there is such a threat as a power outage.
Currently, a fully surgical building is connected to this generator — surgical, maternity, neonatal intensive care unit, fully infectious units, resuscitation, intensive care units in the cardiology and neurological department, gynecology operating room, children's department, hemodialysis. And recently traumatology was added.
But this is a temporary way out of a critical situation, because the future lies precisely in solar electricity. The Zvyagel people plan to work in this direction.
"We are realists and we understand that generators are needed, at the same time, generators are not a long-term solution, energy from generators is expensive. Solar stations will work for 20 years," says Dmytro Sakaliuk, an expert on energy issues of the NGO "Ekoklub".
We told you how, on the example of one district center, a small district hospital, vital problems are solved with the help of a solar station and other alternative sources of electricity. And there are great hopes that such projects will be actively implemented in other cities and towns of our country in the near future.
"We intend to convert not only the hospital to solar energy, but also the waterworks, as a strategic object, and further work to ensure that the city of Zvyagel gradually becomes energy-independent," says Iryna Gudz, deputy mayor of Zvyagel.
As part of the Solar Aid For Ukraine fundraising campaign, solar power plants will be installed for six more Ukrainian hospitals, for which environmentalists are currently collecting funds. Among them are medical facilities in Zhytomyr, Sumy, and Korosten.
