Epicenter Group plans to boost solar power capacity in Ukraine to 108 MW by 2030

Epicenter Group plans to expand its in-house solar generation capacity from 15 MW to 108 MW by the end of 2030, with $44 million in projected investment, project manager for solar plant development Viktoria Kudievska announced.

"We aim for 108 MW. Right now, we have nine solar plants with a combined 15 MW, built in just two years. Another 30 MW will be commissioned by the end of Q1 2026. In total, by 2030 we plan to add 93 MW, which will require $44 million in investment," Kudievska said at the 10th Business & Legal Energy Forum held in Kyiv on Tuesday.

She specified that given wartime conditions, the company is prioritizing projects in central and western Ukraine, but by 2030 expects to launch projects in the southeast as well. Each new Epicenter facility is already being constructed with integrated solar panels. Kudievska added that the company intends to rebuild its logistics center in Kalynivka, Kyiv region – recently destroyed by Russian attacks – and is also pursuing a key project in Khmelnytsky region: the Horodok industrial park, where a 30 MW ground-mounted solar plant will be built.

Epicenter is developing generation for its own consumption, Kudievska explained, citing "a bitter experience" as an active consumer, particularly due to rules limiting the sale of excess power to 50% of self-consumption.

Meanwhile, Andriy Zhupanyn, deputy chair of the Verkhovna Rada's energy committee, noted that 2 GW of consumer-side generation is already online.

"Consumer-side generation now totals 2 GW. Considering Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk's estimate that 17.6 GW must be operational for the winter, this is a significant share. And most of it is solar, since that's the easiest and most investment-friendly technology to deploy," he said.

Zhupanyn added that with DTEK's launch of a 200 MW energy storage system, Ukraine's grid now has 320 MW of storage capacity (with OKKO and KNESS having earlier announced their own projects).

On September 11, Energy Minister Hrynchuk said Ukraine must secure 17.6 GW of available capacity ahead of the 2025/2026 heating season. She added that companies have already commissioned 194.11 MW of distributed generation this year, with another 383.54 MW expected by year's end.

In late August, during a report to the Rada energy committee, National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NEURC) head Yuriy Vlasenko presented data showing that regional utilities had connected 17.4 MW of storage capacity.

On September 16, a drone strike damaged Epicenter's logistics center in Kyiv region, pushing the group's total war-related losses above $1 billion.

Separately, DTEK and U.S. company Fluence have built 200 MW of energy storage facilities – the largest such installation in Ukraine to date. Of that, 140 MW will operate under a five-year contract with Ukrenergo, providing the grid operator with ancillary services.