So far, total installed power capacity on the peninsula bordering the Black Sea is 242MW, with only 128.7MW actually generating electricity. However, boosted by a recent study by Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences suggesting the average wind speed in the Crimea is a favourable 5 metres/second at a height of ten metres, foreign investors are now showing a firm interest.
French investor Filasa International, together with its Ukrainian subsidiary Krym-Aeolus, plans to build up to 1.6GW of wind farms in Ukraine by 2016 at an estimated cost of EUR2.4 billion.
Another wind developer from the European Union, the Portuguese Martifer Group, has also declared plans to continue the development of the large-scale wind project in Crimea it first announced back in 2007, but which has been on hold since then.
This project comprises two wind farms in the Black Sea and Lenin districts with a combined capacity of 300MW. Investment is estimated at EUR1 billion.
Finally, the firms Greek Prenecon and Prime Energy Construction plan to build wind farms across Crimea with a combined capacity of 1GW.
One investor that may not go ahead is Germany's WKN Windkraft Nord. It had planned to invest EUR1.5 billion in five wind farms in the Odessa region and in Crimea with a total capacity of 800MW. However, the Kiev business paper Kommersant suggested last month the projects may be put on hold indefinitely due to WKN's failure to reach agreement with its Ukrainian partners.
Observers now believe that investment from abroad is dependent on the Ukrainian government issuing policies that are more supportive of green energy goals.
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