Completed during the war and put into operation, the first stage of Tylihulska wind power plant (WPP) in Mykolaiv region with a capacity of 114 MW will generate up to 390,000 kWh of electricity per year, which is enough to provide electricity to 200,000 households, DTEK said.

According to DTEK's release, this is the first wind power plant in the world to be constructed during the war, and one of the first projects to install 6 MW EnVentus turbines of the Danish manufacturer Vestas.

"In 2022, we had big plans for the construction of a new Tylihulska wind power plant, but the Russian invasion temporarily suspended this project. Today let me say: we have decided to resume the construction of a wind power plant, and the first stage of the plant has already started operating at full capacity. The war will not stop us. We will continue to create jobs, pay taxes, generate electricity, restore networks, fight for our energy independence and invest in the future. We will win the war," SCM investor Rinat Akhmetov said, according to the release.

The company plans to bring Tylihulska WPP to the declared capacity of 500 MW, for which it laid the foundations for the installation of another 64 turbines of 6 MW each at the second construction stage. This will reduce CO2 emissions by 400,000 tonnes annually.

The company calculates that the 500 MW construction will make the plant the largest wind power plant in Eastern Europe and additionally provide clean energy to homes and businesses in southern Ukraine, which are heavily affected by blackouts due to shelling of energy infrastructure.

According to CEO of DTEK Maksym Timchenko, due to projects such as Tylihulska WPP, Ukraine will become more environmentally friendly and clean, will become a key partner in the energy future of Europe, and the development of infrastructure based on distributed generation will create a more sustainable and stable energy supply.

"DTEK is preparing for the construction of the second stage. The company will continue to contribute to the implementation of Ukraine's strategy for the construction of 30 GW of renewable energy capacities until 2030 (...). Already now, having completed the first stage of construction, we are signalling to our international partners that they can invest in Ukraine today, without waiting for the end of the war," Timchenko said.

However, the company said DTEK's plans to expand Tylihulska WPP remain dependent on additional funding of $450 million, primarily from foreign investors and, very importantly, from government-backed international financial institutions.

The company said the decision to construct Tylihulska WPP was made in 2020 as part of DTEK's strategy to expand the renewable energy portfolio. Subsequently, the project will increase the capacity of DTEK's green energy from 1 GW to 1.5 GW.

The foundations of the wind power plant were laid at the end of 2021, and the first wind turbine was installed in December 2021. After the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, DTEK halted construction of the station when six turbines had already been installed, as enemy forces advanced on Mykolaiv and foreign partners were forced to evacuate personnel and equipment.

"In the summer of 2022, with the financial support of shareholder Rinat Akhmetov, DTEK resumed construction work with a Ukrainian team, the number of which reached 650 employees at peak periods. Employees worked in bulletproof vests, and from August 2022 to April 2023 spent more than 300 hours in bomb shelters under constant the threat of missile strikes," DTEK said.

However, they said that as a result, construction took twice as long as usual for a project of this magnitude, but called it an outstanding achievement under exceptionally difficult circumstances.

The company gave several facts about the wind power plant equipment, noting that it is equipped with Vestas EnVentus V162-6.0 MW turbines, the blade length of which is 79 meters, and the weight of one is 23 tonnes. At the same time, the blade rotation diameter is 162 meter. The total weight of the turbine is 730 tonnes.