Ukraine Approves $20 Billion Green Energy Plan Despite Ongoing War

The Ukrainian government approved a plan to significantly spur green energy development on Tuesday as its war against Russia continues to drag on, according to Reuters.

Ukrainian officials stated that the development strategy will require about $20 billion in investment to be realized, and will aim to increase the share of the country’s power coming from sources like solar and wind up to 27% by 2030, according to Reuters. Ukrainian energy infrastructure has been hit hard by the ongoing war, and the U.S. government has approved at least $175 billion of assistance to the Ukrainians since Russian forces crossed into Ukrainian territory, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Specifically, the Ukrainian government is aiming for green energy generation to provide 33% of the power needed for heating and cooling systems, 29% for overall electricity generation and 17% of the power consumed for transportation, according to Reuters. While the government did not disclose what percentage of power demand is currently met by green energy generation, some local media reports have pegged the figure at about 10%.

The war in Ukraine continues to rage nearly two-and-a-half years after it started. Ukrainian forces have broken into Russia’s Kursk region in recent weeks and taken control of Russian territory, showing that the fighting may not wind down any time soon.

The manpower situation for the Ukrainian side has also become an increasingly significant problem, with tens of thousands of soldiers having perished in the war to date. The Ukrainian military has started to send thousands of convicts to the front lines to take up arms in response to its numbers problem.

Russian forces have damaged or otherwise incapacitated approximately half of Ukraine’s energy generation infrastructure with drone attacks and airstrikes over the course of the war, according to Reuters. The country has been forced to rely on solar, wind and nuclear generation, which has caused safety concerns given the potential for the fighting to cause a nuclear incident.