Akhmetov's first wind farm refuses from green tariff
Photo: DTEK

The Tylihul wind farm, owned by Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK company, has terminated its arrangements with Guaranteed Buyer and started selling electricity on market terms since Friday, the company said in a statement.

Leaving the balancing group of Guaranteed Buyer allows some renewable energy companies to generate revenues comparable to the feed-in tariff, DTEK said, which in particular applies to wind energy projects.

"Now the market price environment allows us to receive the necessary funds in a timely manner to maintain stable operation of the plant during the heating season and make payments to creditors," DTEK Renewables CEO Olexandr Selyshchev was quoted as saying.

Electricity from the Tylihul wind power plant will be sold through D.Trading. The legislation also allows companies to return to the balancing group of Guaranteed Buyer at any time and operate at a feed-in tariff.

"Liberalisation of the electricity market, removal of price restrictions, opening of exports, etc. will have a stimulating effect on the entry of most RES producers, who currently receive only 40 to 45 percent of their payments from the Guaranteed Buyer, while the rest of the debt can be paid in a year or two," the statement reads.

DTEK Renewables launched the first stage of the Tylihul wind farm, which will include 83 wind turbines, in May.

The projected annual electricity output of the fully completed wind farm will be 1.7 billion kWh.