ydro stations are located on the Dnipro River, on which the flow is highly seasonable. However, some of the hydro plant is used at least partly to provide much-needed peaking capacity, to maintain system stability. p> In accordance with the National Energy Programme of Ukraine, in 2000 the share of renewables in Ukraine's net generation of electricity had to be 0.8% or 2.1 bln kWh. Because of severe budget constrains during the previous five years, this programme has not been fulfilled. Actually, less than 10% of needed funds have been assigned for renewable energy in 1996 - 2000. Therefore, we can consider that in 1999 the real share of renewables was around 0.08%.
Summary
Ukraine is an energy-rich republic. It has resources of coal, gas and oil. However, there continues to be a shortfall between domestic primary energy production and demand as a result of low investment in domestic capacity. In 1993 renewable energy resources accounted for less than 1% of primary energy demand. This was mainly accounted by the use of large scale hydro to produce electricity, and wood used as a domestic heating fuel. There has been little development of renewable energy due to historically low fossil fuel prices and no need to consider security of energy supply. There has been significant research and development carried out in Ukraine, in particularly wind power and solar power. However, these markets have barely developed beyond demonstration systems. There is considerable renewable resource in Ukraine, but today this has not been widely developed. There are so many compelling reasons why it is time to move away from using nuclear power and fossil fuels to generate energy: climate change, radioactive contamination, nuclear proliferation, the unsolved problem of nuclear waste, air and water pollution, resource depletion, and of course the need to create a sustainable energy system based on indigenous renewable resources. A global commitment must be made to phase-out nuclear power and fossil fuels. Technology is one of the keys, but the way these technologies are managed and financed is just as important as the way they work. With adequate resourcing this technology can be used to bring an end to the nuclear and fossil fuel nightmare and to start a realistic clean energy programme for future generation
Geothermal energy refers to the heat within the earth's surface that can be recovered and used for practical purposes. The earth's molten core serves as the source of this subterranean heat, which is brought near the surface by underground volcanic activity. Molten rock intrudes into the earth's crust, heating groundwater to create the steam and hot water that are potentially recovered as viable geothermal resources. These "hydrothermal" resources are typically recovered with well-drilling equipment, and then employed near the point of extraction. For generating electricity, hot water is brought to the surface and "flashed" to steam by the release of pressure from specially designed vessels. In regions where geothermal resources are of lesser quality, binary plant technology is often employed. This technology uses the hot water to flash a secondary - or "Working" - fluid (one with a lower boiling temperature), thus providing a gas to directly substitute for the steam. The steam is then used to drive a turbine, which consequently operates an attached generator. Internationally, at least 21 of the world's countries generate electricity from geothermal energy, while up to 40 countries use geothermal resources for domestic direct heating purposes.
There is great potential for wind power energy in Ukraine. If, for instance, the 2,700 sq.km. of shallow waters in the Black and Asov Seas were used for wind turbines, this would cover the entire electricity consumption of Ukraine After the Chernobyl accident, several attempts were made to develop wind turbines in Ukraine. The most successful has been the joint venture Windenergo. It was created as a collaboration of a number of former military companies that have the necessary manufacturing facilities and a USA-based company, Kennetec Windpower. Their first type of wind turbine is a 107-kW turbine, of which three started their operation in May 1993. Now 60 of these turbines are running near Donuzlav Bay in Cremea. A new model of wind turbine has been developed with a capacity of 250 kW. Three turbines of this type are now in operation. Beside the Ukrainian wind turbines, the Windenergo produces parts for Kennetec wind turbines operating in the USA, which is partly financing the involvement of Kennetec.
Solar energy is a renewable resource. Using solar energy to replace the use of traditional fossil fuel energy sources can prevent the release of pollutants into the atmosphere. Using energy from sunlight can replace the use of stored energy in natural resources such as petroleum, nat...
