Ukraine is planning to repurpose the site of the world’s most well-known nuclear disaster, Chernobyl, into a wind farm that can generate power once again. The current plan is to transform Chernobyl into a one-gigawatt wind farm, which would be one of the largest in Europe. At full capacity, the wind farm could power up to 800,000 homes in nearby Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.

Despite concerns about the safety of workers spending time in the radiated zone, as there is still radioactive material in the atmosphere but at tolerable levels, Ukrainian officials and Notus Energy, the German company involved in the project are evaluating how to move forward safely. Last year, Russian soldiers reportedly experienced radiation sickness after digging into the dirt near the power plant when they seized Chernobyl site during an invasion of Ukraine.

The rehabilitation of Chernobyl into a modern power plant that produces clean and renewable energy has symbolic significance. It offers several benefits for the wind farm project. The area already has a lot of power plant infrastructure in place and no residents will be displaced as radiation zone is essentially a ghost town. Moreover, providing clean climate-friendly energy to Kyiv from this location sends an important message about sustainable development and environmental protection.

Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi, Ukraine’s deputy ecology minister stated that Chernobyl could become a symbol of clean climate-friendly energy. The project aims to benefit both environment and provide sustainable energy for Ukraine’s capital city while also paying tribute to those affected by the tragic nuclear accident that occurred on April 26th 1986 at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant causing widespread contamination throughout Europe and beyond.