At Solar & Storage Live in Birmingham, Solar&StorageXtra spoke to Nick Arnold, UK Ambassador for RePower Ukraine.
Nick discussed the work RePower Ukraine has been carrying out in the country following its invasion, the charity’s MOU with Solar Energy UK, and how the industry can help save lives by getting involved.
In the UK we will potentially develop a project … that saves carbon and gives people a good ROI. But in Ukraine you can build the same thing, and it will literally save people’s lives.
Interview with Nick Arnold
Xtra: What is RePower Ukraine?
Nick: RePower Ukraine is a charity set up by Ukrainian PV industry professionals as a response to the Russian invasion.
Energy is a key target for the Russians, so a lot of their (Ukraine’s) grid has been destroyed and is still regularly under attack. The deployment of solar and batteries in particular is a really good strategy for the Ukrainians.
I’ve worked in the UK solar industry for a long time, and I wanted to help Ukraine in whatever way I could. I realised that we could find sponsors amongst the UK industry to supply hospitals, particularly with battery systems, PV systems, and generate a backup.
Xtra: How can the industry get involved in RePower Ukraine’s mission?
Nick: They can become project supporters, where they can donate all the materials, such as batteries, solar panels and inverters.
Or they can become a project funder because half of our projects require materials, and the other half require some kind of funding. To that end, financial donations are very useful.
(You can) support us on social media to spread the word. We have a couple of other GoFundMe projects now which generate smaller amounts of money for critical power supplies for frontline systems.
These are small portable power packs which cost maybe £1,000 and are a lot more affordable than some of our hospital projects, which are a lot bigger and require a lot more funding.
We’re also looking for people who want to join the charity in the UK who have both time and expertise that they’d like to share.
Xtra: What projects have RePower Ukraine worked on this year?
Nick: In the last year, we have developed four hospital projects and another five are due to be built by January next year.
We’ve had our first shipment of batteries for two hospital projects supplied by a UK wholesaler that arrived in Kyiv today, and we’ve just agreed with another UK wholesaler to supply batteries for possibly four or five new projects.
We have some donors who have pledged to fund the financial elements of the projects, rather than the materials. This will help to keep the charity going, as well as deliver the project.
Things are really beginning to move.
Xtra: How has the UK solar industry been supporting the charity?
Nick: Solar Energy UK in particular has been very supportive and is hosting us today (25/09/2024) at their stands. They’ve also invited us to present at some of their roundtable events and their working groups, and have signed an MOU to support our projects.
We contacted them around 18 months ago, and they immediately said they were very happy to help so it’s great to see support from UK Trade bodies.
They’ve introduced us to several of their members who’ve been keen to come on board, and we’re very happy to support Solar Energy UK in any way that we can.
Xtra: What message do you want people to take away from conversations with RePower Ukraine?
Nick: The key element for me is that it’s amazingly achievable to donate equipment that we use in our industry every day. Doing this has a life-changing effect on people in Ukraine.
For example – in the UK we will potentially develop a project that takes maybe three or four days to build, that saves carbon and gives people a good ROI. But in Ukraine, you can build the same thing, and it will save people’s lives.
Missed out on Solar & Storage Live, or want to come back for more? Don’t miss the Barcelona edition from 13-14 November.
