April 28, 2026: Plans for a solar-BESS plant in Ukraine to generate around 140GWh of renewable electricity annually have been backed with a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The bank said on April 24 it is lending $45 million to Energy RTB 2, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ukrainian agribusiness group Kernel, to finance construction of the 106MW solar power plant with co-located battery storage.

The total project cost is estimated at around $86 million. The EBRD’s funding will be backed by partial financial guarantees from the European Union.

Battery chemistry and plant location details were not disclosed, but the bank said the facility will be in an energy deficient region of southern Ukraine. A power transmission line will connect the plant to the national grid.

The project is part of Kernel’s plans to establish a portfolio of renewable energy projects with a total capacity of up to 600MW, with expected investments of about $400 million.

Kernel CEO Yevhen Osypov said: “Developing green energy is one of Kernel’s key investment priorities. Ukraine currently faces a significant shortage of generation capacity, as large-scale facilities remain vulnerable to attacks. 

“Our response is to expand distributed generation, particularly solar and wind energy, as well as energy storage solutions. Connecting new capacity to the grid is our contribution to strengthening Ukraine’s energy resilience and security.”