Ukraine’s wind energy potential stands at approximately 180 GW — that is the central finding of researchers from ETH Zurich, the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and the University of Bayreuth, published in the journal Joule. This is the first comprehensive geospatial mapping of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and its war-related damage, combined with a systematic assessment of the country’s renewable energy resources.
Key figures:
- Wind energy potential — 180 GW, solar — 39 GW, combined total — 219 GW.
- Pre-war installed capacity across the entire energy system — 59 GW; domestic consumption — 22 GW.
- The best areas for wind and solar are located in the south and east of the country.
- According to the authors’ assessment, 95% of thermal power plants have been destroyed.
What the researchers did
The dataset covers 1,626 facilities: thermal, nuclear, hydro, and renewable power plants, substations, and transmission lines.
The team overlaid this infrastructure map with documented war damage, then assessed the technical potential for wind and solar generation by accounting for terrain, population density, proximity to settlements and grid infrastructure, as well as protected areas and agricultural land.
Why wind stands out
Before the war, Ukraine was one of Europe’s largest electricity producers — 59 GW of installed capacity. Roughly half came from coal and gas, nearly a quarter from nuclear plants, with solar, hydro, wind, and bioenergy making up the rest. The country’s own consumption stood at 22 GW, leaving a substantial operational reserve — which, the authors note, helped the system hold up under wartime conditions.
Against this backdrop, the 180 GW wind energy potential represents the largest single share of assessed resources. Combined with solar (39 GW), that totals 219 GW — a figure the researchers say already far exceeds the country’s entire pre-war installed capacity. The most suitable wind regions, they observe, lie along the Black Sea and Sea of Azov coasts in the south and east.
Why decentralisation, not new thermal capacity
Strikes on power stations and substations have reduced total generation to roughly one-third of pre-war levels. Centralised infrastructure proved highly vulnerable to attacks on a small number of major nodes, whereas independent grids, the researchers conclude, demonstrate far greater resilience under wartime and crisis conditions. The solution the authors propose: distributed renewable infrastructure that can be deployed faster than conventional thermal capacity.
For communities, this translates into an opportunity to generate electricity locally — provided the region’s potential is sufficient to cover basic needs. The high-resolution suitability maps produced by the Doronina group are presented by the authors as a planning and investment tool, particularly in light of the EU’s RED III Directive requirements for renewable energy “acceleration zones.”
What this means in practice
The Joule study is the first comprehensive geospatial mapping of this scale for Ukraine’s wartime energy system. Its core message to the industry is straightforward: wind and solar generation can, by the researchers’ estimates, more than compensate for both the lost capacity and the country’s pre-war energy needs — many times over. For a market only beginning to plan reconstruction, this makes a compelling case for investing in distributed renewable projects in precisely those regions where the maps show the highest suitability — first and foremost the south and east.
Worth watching going forward: the practical energy sector transformation atlas being prepared by the research team, and how these maps will be incorporated into official recovery plans. For broader context on sector dynamics, see our coverage of Ukrainian renewable energy records and how wind power moved beyond niche status.
Sources: EurekAlert / Joule (Cell Press) — ETH Zurich, TUM, Universität Bayreuth, TUM School of Engineering and Design
Prepared by the Alternative Energy editorial team with the help of AI based on the sources listed; facts and figures were checked against them during automated editorial review. How we prepare articles
