33 years later after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant a cluster of renewable energy is being created in alienation zone. The plans of the Ukrainian authorities, include, in particular, the construction of wind and solar energy. The Ministry of Ecology and natural resources told "Apostrophe" about the new project of the solar power plant, which should appear in the Chernobyl zone.

Ukraine commemorates the anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, which is called one of the largest man-made disasters of the XX century. On April 26, 1986, the explosion destroyed the nuclear reactor of unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

By November 1986, a concrete sarcophagus was erected over the damaged block – the so-called "Shelter" object. At the same time, the sarcophagus could not be considered to be the reliable protection against radiation, in connection with which since 2007 the construction of the arch confinement "Shelter-2" was carried out at the station, which was pushed onto the old sarcophagus at the end of 2016.

According to the National report of Ukraine to the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, the total losses of our country associated with the accident, as of 2015 amounted to almost USD 20 billion.

The new life of Chernobyl

Around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant there is the so-called alienation zone - the territory, which as a result of the accident was subjected to intense radiation pollution. Free access to the alienation zone is prohibited. It consists of three parts – a special zone (Chernobyl industrial site), 10-kilometer and 30-kilometer zones.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant was shut down in 2000 and has not been active since.

However, the Ukrainian authorities decided to give the Chernobyl zone a "second life", focusing on the development of alternative energy there.

The first solar power plant in the alienation zone was put into operation in October 2018, its capacity is 1 MW. The electricity generated by it is enough for the needs of about 2 thousand apartments. The cost of the project is about EURO 1 million.

At the end of March 2019, the Ministry of Ecology and natural resources of Ukraine reported that another solar power plant would be built on the territory adjacent to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. According to the Ministry of Ecology, the new station will be built at the expense of the Spanish government, which are allocated within the framework of cooperation with our country under the Kyoto Protocol – Ukraine has assigned its quotas for greenhouse gas emissions to Spain. At the same time, the condition for the allocation of such funds is their use to finance projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the development of renewable energy.

According to the Ministry of Ecology in response to the official request of "Apostrophe", the state budget will allocate funds for the construction of a new solar power plant in the Chernobyl zone and there funds are the funds received from the sale of Spain quotas for greenhouse gas emissions in the amount of UAH 32.8 million (EUR1.1 million at the current rate).

"The project provides for the construction of a photovoltaic plant (one of the most common types of solar power plants today, which uses modules – photo batteries, – "Apostrophe") with a maximum design capacity of 763 kW on the territory of the Chernobyl alienation zone. The completion date of the project is scheduled for the end of 2019," the Ministry of Ecology noted in its response.