ABOUT US

The actual development of industrial wind energy in Ukraine began in 1994 with the adoption of practical decisions regarding the mass production of wind power units at Ukrainian factories and the construction of wind power plants based on them. In 1997, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution No. 137, approving the state “Comprehensive Program for the Construction of Wind Power Plants in Ukraine” and initiating its implementation.

The main goal of this program was the development of domestic wind power engineering. Serial production of high-tech wind power units (WPUs) was organized in Ukraine under licenses from foreign companies. The production of the USW56-10 model WPU, with a capacity of 107.5 kW, was carried out entirely at 23 industrial enterprises in Ukraine under a license from the well-known American wind power equipment manufacturer “Kenetech WindPower.”

The Comprehensive Program for the Construction of Wind Power Plants allocated funds (within three percent of total deductions) for regulatory and technical support as well as scientific and technical supervision, including research and development. To coordinate research and scientific support, a decision was made to establish the Intersectoral Scientific and Technical Center for Wind Energy (ISTCWE) based on the Institute of Electrodynamics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, in accordance with Resolution No. 128 of the NAS of Ukraine Presidium, dated April 28, 2000.

The main areas of activity of the ISTCWE included:

• Forming prospective scientific and technical directions for the development of wind energy in Ukraine.

• Organizing and conducting expert evaluations of scientific, technical, and socio-economic programs and projects in this field.

• Conducting technical and economic feasibility studies of wind energy projects, taking into account key indicators such as wind characteristics, electricity generation and cost, capital investment requirements, and more.

After the establishment of the Institute of Renewable Energy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 2004, the Center was renamed the State Enterprise “Intersectoral Scientific and Technical Center for Wind Energy of the Institute of Renewable Energy of the NAS of Ukraine.”

As part of the scientific and technical support for the Comprehensive Program for the Construction of Wind Power Plants, the following tasks were completed:

• Identification of promising areas for wind farm construction.

• Development of technical and economic assessments for wind power plant construction.

• Modeling of optimal wind turbine placements on wind farm sites.

• Further analysis and optimization of their operation using modern technical and information technologies.

An important research direction was the integration of wind farms into the power system, addressing issues such as reactive power compensation and reducing overvoltage levels in wind power equipment during operation.

Key Results Achieved:

• Wind potential research in Ukraine.

• Identification of territories suitable for wind farm construction with a total capacity of 16,000 MW.

• Cooperation with 30 machine-building plants from the former military-industrial complex, producing approximately 800 wind turbines with capacities of 100 kW and 600 kW.

• Design and construction of seven wind farms with a total capacity of 87 MW, integrated into Ukraine’s Unified Energy System (UES).

Future Prospects of ISTCWE:

The Center continues to focus on both scientific research and the implementation of renewable energy projects, including:

• Creating a database of technical parameters of wind power units and conducting analytical and predictive calculations.

• Maintaining a database of wind characteristics observations from meteorological stations across Ukraine.

• Validating and structuring data for accurate wind energy calculations.

• Full-cycle long-term forecasting of energy production for specific wind turbine models at designated wind farm sites.

• Pre-investment and investment analysis, evaluating the energy, economic, environmental, and fuel efficiency of wind power projects.

• Analyzing wind turbine performance and providing recommendations for improving operational efficiency.

In collaboration with partner organizations, ISTCWE has initiated the development of an educational system for training and retraining specialists in renewable energy.

For instance, UNIDO is implementing the project “Enhancing Energy Efficiency and Promoting Renewable Energy Use in Agro-Food and Other Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Ukraine.” This project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and partially supported by the private sector.

The main goal of the project is to develop the market for increased energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in energy-intensive SMEs in Ukraine. This aims to enhance competitiveness, support the transition to alternative fuels, reduce carbon emissions, and improve both production efficiency and environmental impact.