Ukrhydroenergo wants to build the largest underground energy storage facility in Europe

Ukrhydroenergo wants to build the largest underground energy storage facility in Europe shutterstock
Katerina Belousova

The company also plans to build a 63.9 MW solar power plant

Ihor Syrota, General Director of Ukrhydroenergo PJSC, said that the company plans to start construction of Europe's largest 212 MW energy storage at a hydroelectric power plant (HPP) in 2024.

To protect it from Russian aggression, energy storage will be built underground, DW reports.

Syrota said that Ukrhydroenergo agreed with the World Bank on the project implementation plan. By the end of 2023, the development of the technical and economic feasibility study, the construction project decision, and the necessary purchases will be completed.

He added that the company also plans to build a 63.9 MW solar power plant as an additional source of energy for the hydroelectric power plant's own needs and for charging electricity storage systems.

"This is a kind of industrial battery, where it will be possible to accumulate energy when there is a lot of it and use it in periods of shortage. Also, energy storage will provide an opportunity to balance the balance of green generation during weather fluctuations," Sirota said.

Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the Clean Technologies Fund will lend $211 million to Ukrhydroenergo PJSC for the installation of energy storage systems and solar power plants.

As EcoPolitic previously reported, Ukrhydroenergo PJSC presented a pilot project for the production of green hydrogen based on the DniproHES hydroelectric power plant, the nominal capacity of which will be 1 MW.

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