Ukraine's Kyivstar buys solar power plant to bolster network resilience

By Gianluca Lo Nostro

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Kyivstar KYIV.O said on Tuesday it had acquired solar power company Sunvin 11, as the mobile operator steps up energy investments to keep its network online amid Russian attacks on the country's grid.

WHY IT MATTERS

Kyivstar, Ukraine's biggest mobile operator which also provides digital healthcare and entertainment services, has been adding backup capacity and alternative connectivity options amid Russia's strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

In November, it started offering Starlink's direct-to-cell SMS service to support customers in remote areas and during blackouts

Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov told Reuters last month that the company had 3,500 stationary power generators connected to its network and it planned to increase that number.

BY THE NUMBERS

The mobile operator will buy all shares of Sunvin 11, which owns a 12.9-megawatt solar plant in the Zhytomyr region, for 347.6 million hryvnias ($8.2 million). Power from the site will feed into Ukraine's unified energy system under market rules, Kyivstar said in a statement.

The plant can generate electricity equivalent to about 4% of Kyivstar's annual consumption, it said.

($1 = 42.1900 hryvnias)