Despite the full-scale war in 2023, Ukraine had a number of successful projects in implementing the green transition, including renewable energy development, environmental protection, and waste recycling. These achievements are an important step forward in reducing the negative impact on the environment and creating a sustainable future for future generations.
Read more about the most important achievements of the country in the EcoPolitic material.
Launching of Tyligul wind power station;
In May, the first phase of the Tiligul wind power plant with a capacity of 114 MW from 19 wind turbines was launched in the Mykolaiv region just 100 km from the front line. The wind farm will be able to provide energy to 200,000 households and avoid 400,000 tons of carbon emissions per year. This power plant can become the largest wind power plant in Eastern Europe after the completion of the construction of all stages.
It became a landmark event that demonstrated international partners that it is possible to invest in Ukraine today without waiting for the end of the war. In addition, the Tyligul wind farm was set as an example for the government of Great Britain, because only the Staffordshire wind farm with 1 MW of two turbines was launched in the country during the full-scale war in Ukraine.
"It is simply amazing that Ukraine, fighting for its survival, has built more wind power on land than England," said the founder and head of the Britain Remade campaign, which advocates green economic growth Sam Richards.
During the SOR28 climate conference, DTEK and Vestas agreed on the construction of the second stage Tyligul wind power plant, which will increase its capacity by 384 MW. DTEK announced that they are ready to start construction in the 2nd quarter of 2024, and to finish it at the end of 2025.
Transition of Vinnytsia business to solar energy;
In Vinnytsia, enterprises have installed more than 10 MW of solar power plants for their own needs. This provided green energy for about 10% of consumption. SPP at enterprises allow to reduce consumption from centralized networks by 5-50%.
In the summer period, the installed capacities of some enterprises, for example, at the factory of LLC GreenCool, which manufactures refrigeration equipment, will be able to fully meet their energy needs. Other enterprises will be able to partially provide their work.
This result was achieved thanks to the city's micro, small and medium-sized business support program. In addition to private enterprises, SES was also installed on the roof of the tram depot.
Vinnytsia became the first community in Ukraine to adopt the European Green Course. Among other things, the program provides for the presence of a green component in the final products of enterprises, for example, energy from RES.
First lawsuit for ecocide;
In April, for the first time in the history of independent Ukraine, a lawsuit was brought to court for the commission of ecocide. Two employees of the heating water supply enterprise are accused of massive destruction of flora and fauna in the tributary of the Sluch River, where all living things died on a four-kilometer section. During 2017-2021, workers systematically dumped untreated sewage containing toxic waste from the cardboard and paper industry into the river.
The results of the trial have not yet been announced.
Launch of separate waste collection based on REC in Poltava region;
On July 9, the European integration framework Law No. 2320-IX "On Waste Management" entered into force, which launches the long-awaited garbage reform. Among other provisions, the document introduces the concept of extended producer responsibility for the first time. Although the relevant sectoral draft law No. 10066 "On packaging and packaging waste" has not even passed the first reading in the Verkhovna Rada, businesses are already beginning to put the principles of the RBB into practice.
Thus, in Poltava Oblast in Pyryatin in August, the first 30 tons of waste cardboard packaging collected by enterprises and residents of four communities in two months were sent for processing. In October, Recopack, an association of manufacturers of packaged goods operating under the principle of extended liability, and Brovary territorial community, Kyiv region, signed an agreement on the creation of a similar system.
Liquidation of a toxic waste dump in Odesa region.
In October, a dump with 147 tons of insecticide DDT, located on the coast of Khadzhibey estuary since 1979, was removed in Odesa. Toxic waste fell on the outskirts of the village of Altestov in 1979 after the Mozdok steamship sank.
According to local residents, an unpleasant smell spread from the poison burying ground, chemicals seeped into the soil, and poisonous liquid flowed into the estuary.
For years, activists have been sounding the alarm and trying to get local authorities to clean up the dump. In 2023, residents insisted on the urgent need to eliminate the spoiled pesticides to avoid a catastrophe, the risk of which was growing against the backdrop of Russian aggression. During the liquidation of the landfill, it was discovered that the bags in which the insecticides were stored had already begun to leak.
In 2023, Ukraine made some progress in the green transition. Increased production of green energy and decentralization of the energy system, reduced CO2 emissions, and increased use of recycled materials demonstrate the country's serious efforts to combat the climate crisis, its path to sustainable development, and the growing environmental awareness of Ukrainians. These achievements lay a positive foundation for further efforts to preserve the environment and reduce the anthropogenic impact on nature.
