The weather was cold and wet, but the sun came out: Greenpeace and the Biohaus Foundation unfurled a solar flower in front of the exhibition centre in Berlin. The Ukraine Recovery Conference is being held there today and tomorrow. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) received the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj. The conference is intended to support the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Marshall plan for solarisation presented
Last weekend, Greenpeace presented a Marshall Plan for the solarisation of Ukraine. The conditions are excellent: there is sufficient land available and solar radiation is significantly higher than in Germany, for example.
See also: A hybrid solar station for the Chernihiv Regional Hospital
In addition, Russian aggression has shown that nuclear plants like the one in Zaporizhzhia are very vulnerable. Russian President Vladimir Putin has occupied them and is using them as leverage to blackmail Ukraine and its international allies.
Modules for a clinic in Trostyanetz
The solar flower consists of solar modules that will be transported directly to Ukraine after the campaign and installed on a hospital in the city of Trostyanets. ‘Modules stored by Greenpeace in Hamburg will also be used for this purpose,’ reports Willi Ernst from the Biohaus Foundation. ‘We are providing a further 50 kilowatts with inverters and substructures, which are currently stored in Paderborn.’
More solar modules wanted
The Biohaus Foundation will hand over a total of 440 solar panels to the clinic in Trostjanez. ‘This is a small contribution to support a city that has the courage to lead by example,’ says Willi Ernst. ‘We are still looking for solar systems that we can send to Ukraine as emergency energy aid.’
Civil defence structures used
The shipments to Ukraine are organised via civil defence structures of the European Union and Poland. ‘We have an employee in Kiyv,’ explains Adam Balogh, head of a task force to support Ukraine. ‘He makes sure that the solar technology reaches its destination.’
Overcoming the energy crisis
Ukraine's energy supply plays a decisive role in the resistance against Putin's armies. This is why power stations, grids and transformers are favoured targets of Russian air strikes. The centralised power supply, which is supported by large power plants, is proving to be particularly vulnerable. ‘The Ukraine Recovery Conference should urgently focus on overcoming the energy crisis,’ demands Martin Kaiser, Managing Director of Greenpeace Germany. ‘Solar energy is a key to rebuilding Ukraine's energy supply because it can be expanded easily, more cost-effectively and quickly.’
Also interesting: Green Planet Energy donates solar modules and battery storage systems for Ukraine
Boosting the expansion
The researchers at Berlin Economics have outlined what such a plan could look like: It would be feasible and economically advantageous to increase the expansion of solar energy by 3.6 gigawatts of newly installed capacity by 2027, five times more than the Ukraine plan envisages (0.7 gigawatts).
Incentivising investors
By 2030, the installed capacity of solar energy could increase to a total of 14 gigawatts compared to today (5.6 gigawatts). Measures are needed to incentivise investors. It is also important to stabilise the weak electricity grid in Ukraine and train more skilled workers for the energy transition. (HS/mfo)
