Solar energy in Ukraine in 2018 makes another breakthrough and not only solar energy. The commissioning of new power generation facilities based on renewable energy sources (RES) has accelerated. The reason for the growth of industrial generations is the creation of a small generation by the population.
According to the State Energy Efficiency Agency of Ukraine for the first half of 2018, Ukraine has installed almost 270 MW of capacity, which generates electricity from renewable energy sources at a “green” tariff. This is 2 times more than in the first half of 2017 (127 MW), and exceeds the capacity installed for the entire 2017 (257 MW).
Most of the new facilities are solar power plants with a total capacity of 206 MW. The second place in terms of facilities installed in the first half of 2018 is occupied by wind power plants with a total capacity of 50 MW. In addition, over half a year, 7 MW of capacity generating electricity from biogas, 5 MW of electricity from biomass, and another 1 MW of small hydropower plants were installed.
In general, from the beginning of 2015 to the second quarter of 2018, 677 MW of renewable power generation capacities were put into operation, for the establishment of which more than 650 million euros were invested.
The total amount of investment in the Ukrainian “green” power industry during this time has already exceeded 1.1 billion euros, in the second half of the year we are expected to put into operation more and more new power plants.
However, in the total amount of power generation in Ukraine, the share of renewable energy sources is still insignificant - 1,644 MW, which is barely more than 1.2% of the total installed power generation capacity. Nuclear and thermal energy still dominate in the country.
In the first half of this year, the volume of electricity produced by power plants in Ukraine amounted to 79.873.2 million kWh, which is 1.9% more than in the same period of 2017. At the same time, the electricity consumption for the specified period reached - 61.361.0 mln kWh (decreased by 3%).
NPPs generated more than half of total electricity generation - 40.033.2 million kWh (12.2% less than last year).
Thermal power plants and thermal power plants produced 19.4% more energy and reached 30.060.4 million kWh.
HPP and PSPP - 7,847.5 million kW • h (more by 32.1%).
Renewable Energy Sources (RES) - 1,226.7 mln kWh (38.2% more).
Block stations and other power plants produced 705.4 million kWh (2.6% less).
It turns out that today the share of alternative energy sources (excluding hydropower) in the total volume of electricity production in Ukraine is about 1.5% (taking into account hydropower - 11.3%). Such data are very far from those of developed European countries and have little effect on the energy security of Ukraine, but the annual steady growth inspires. An additional growth driver is project financing launched by international organizations through Ukrainian banks.

Until 2020, Ukraine should produce at least 11% of energy from renewable sources. These commitments to European partners are fixed in the Energy Strategy. By 2035, the share of renewable energy in the energy balance will reach a quarter of all energy produced.
Against the background of positive dynamics in the commissioning of new solar power plants for industrial use, the trend to accelerate the pace of implementation of solar installations by the population did not go unnoticed. In the second quarter of 2018, another 1107 solar power plants with an installed capacity of up to 30 kW (house SES, we are talking about installations connected to the RES network) were put into operation. This is twice as high as in the first quarter of this year.

In general, as of the end of the first half of 2018, already 4660 private households installed solar panels with a total installed capacity of almost 90 MW! This is, of course, a drop in the ocean, but the dynamics are good. More and more people are thinking about investing in solar installations. They are not only thinking, but also doing it - the investments of the population in solar panels, inverters and other equipment have already amounted to 88 million euros! And the process is gaining momentum in spite of any objective and subjective obstacles.

In the short term, the growth of alternative generation in Ukraine will continue. Perhaps even accelerating the pace due to the arrival of an increasing number of foreign investors. Growth drivers - high “green tariffs” against the background of cheaper equipment. In 2018-2019, the rate of commissioning of the new SES and WPPs is expected, as the stations commissioned after 2019 will be able to rely on the “green” tariff, which will already be 10% lower than the current one. It is predicted that only in 2018 about 400 W of solar energy will be installed and put into operation in Ukraine, which will increase the Ukrainian SES market by another 57%.