Fortum donates a solar power plant to a water utility in the city of Ananiv (Odesa region) through the Solar Aid for Ukraine initiative. The donation will help ensure water provision to the residents during power outages.
Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine has severely impacted the country’s energy system. Communities have experienced emergency and scheduled power outages, putting the operations of essential infrastructure at risk. As of May 2023, the estimated damage to the energy infrastructure was $8.3 billion. Therefore, Ukrainian municipalities are now struggling to provide continuous electricity in populated areas.
Ukrainian municipalities have been developing renewable energy during the war to ensure energy resilience. The Solar Air for Ukraine campaign aims to install solar power plants for critical infrastructure like hospitals and water utilities. Although municipalities are facing significant fiscal challenges, they are co-financing these projects where possible. By June 2023, Ecoclub received over 600 requests and installed solar power plants in several regions, with a goal of 1 MW capacity by year-end. Today, more than 1.3 MW has been installed with our help, and we are planning new projects.
Municipal water treatment and distribution are especially vulnerable to power cuts, as there is no easy-access alternative to them. Generators and power banks can help households through a power cut, but without clean running water, life gets difficult quickly.
“Fortum employees are very passionate about supporting Ukraine, and this was a natural project to support for us as an energy company ourselves,” Nebahat Albayrak, EVP Sustainability and Corporate Relations, says.
“The postwar reconstruction of Ukraine should not only be based on the principles of Build Back Better but also greener, in particular, this should mean the just energy transition. The municipally owned renewable energy facility that literally provides water to the people is a great example of a project guided by the principles of such transition. That is why we are very pleased to see that Fortum, a very powerful energy player in the Nordics, shares and supports such approaches. Fortum is a Finnish company, and Finland has been one of the most loyal supporters of Ukraine during the war,” says Andriy Martynyuk, Executive director of the NGO Ecoclub.
The donation is made as part of Fortum’s Corporate Social Responsibility Programme. Through the Programme, the company aims to give back in an impactful way for the benefit of people and the environment. The CSR Programme is part of Fortum’s social sustainability work, and it supports initiatives within the following environmental and social focus areas: climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity, water, equality and education. In addition, the CSR Programme supports humanitarian crisis relief. See all Fortum’s partners here.