A 60 kW solar power plant has been launched on the roof of a hospital in Kremenchuk. It was installed as part of the Ecoclub’s Solar Aid to Ukraine project. The solar power plant will help ensure a more stable power supply for all buildings of the medical institution. Therefore, patients will continue to receive services regardless of power outages.
Kremenchuk City Council received funds for the project from WECF (Women Engage for a Common Future) and Elektrizitätswerke Schönau. The total cost is UAH 1,755,800. Another 400 thousand hryvnias were allocated from the community budget, which was used to prepare the necessary documentation and repair the roof.
Last year, during the power outages, the medical facility operated with a generator. However, its capacity of 30 kW was not enough to power all the hospital buildings. Now the community is developing decentralized energy to ensure that critical infrastructure facilities are protected from possible emergencies:
“The city of Kremenchuk is, without exaggeration, the only city that suffered the most from rocket attacks in the Poltava region. As a result of russian shelling, the heat and power plant was destroyed and could not be restored before the heating season. That is why we are working to develop decentralized generation,” says Olga Usanova, Deputy Mayor of Kremenchuk.
About five thousand residents of the community receive outpatient treatment at the medical facility where the solar power plant was launched. Another 40,000 receive inpatient care. The hospital’s maternity and radiology departments use equipment that requires a huge amount of electricity.
“Stable power supply is important to us. The lives and safety of patients depend on it. Therefore, realizing the potential dangers of the new heating season, we were delighted to hear about the installation of a solar power plant that will help unload the power grid,” says Viktor Sevastyan, director of the hospital in Kremenchuk.
Due to the operation of the solar power plant, the hospital will save about UAH 230 thousand annually on utility bills according to the 2022 tariff. The community can use the savings to implement other energy efficiency measures. The hospital consumes about 516 thousand kWh of electricity per year. The station will cover about 8% of its electricity consumption.
“The community has a solar power plant on the roof of the school. Every year it saves 229 thousand hryvnias at the 2022 tariff. That is, the initial investment in the development of solar energy is already paying off,” emphasizes Olha Usanova.
Since December last year, five solar power plants have been installed for medical institutions in different communities of Ukraine (Zviahel, Zhytomyr, Dubno, Sumy, Kremenchuk) and eight more will be installed by the end of the year (for a water utility and a kindergarten in Zviahel, for a water utility in Brody, for a children’s leisure center in Sumy, for a hospital in Brovary, for dentistry in Rivne, for a maternity hospital in Nizhyn, for a children’s hospital in Mykolaiv).
In total, Ecoclub has received more than 380 requests from Ukrainian communities to install solar power plants. We are looking for funds and partners to implement projects, help communities develop the necessary documentation for project implementation (inspection reports, feasibility studies, design and estimate documentation).
Learn more about the Solar Aid to Ukraine project.