NedZero, formerly known as the Netherlands Wind Energy Association (NWEA), and the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association (UWEA) signed a Memorandum of Partnership and Cooperation today, 26 November, at the Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference (OEEC) in Amsterdam.
The Memorandum was signed by Andriy Konechenkov, Chairman of the UWEA Board, and Jan Vos, Chairman of NedZero, following a session at The Stage titled ‘UWEA: Onshore and offshore wind power solutions for economic resilience of Ukraine’.
“We need to defend Europe and we need to defend Ukraine together. And part of the defence is not only military, it’s also energy because if there is no energy, there is no military. Energy is the main stock of any war. So it is very important that we support Ukraine way more than we are doing now” , said Jan Vos .
Vos further highlighted that for both war-ridden Ukraine and the Netherlands, the issues are basically the same: getting enough renewable energy that is decentralised. Here, NedZero’s Chairman echoed a point made by Galyna Shmidt, International Director and Board Member at UWEA, during the session at The Stage . If a power plant is destroyed, it creates a major problem but if a wind turbine is destroyed, there are many more that continue generating power – and it is much more complicated and expensive to even try destroying multiple wind turbines, Shmidt said.
Among other challenges Ukraine and the Netherlands share, one of the most significant is grid congestion, Jan Vos said.
Under the newly signed Memorandum, NedZero and UWEA are meeting with companies that can bring wind turbines to Ukraine and the two organisations are already looking at projects to bring more electricity to the country.
“This is the start of something that I hope is going to be big and that we can do this over the next few years, and soon in a situation where there is peace in this beautiful country” , Jan Vos said.