Ukraine pivots to rooftop solar, microgrids and batteries to withstand attacks
Feb 23rd 2026
After repeated Russian strikes on centralized power plants left millions without heat, Ukraine is rapidly deploying rooftop solar, wind, microgrids and storage to boost energy security, backed largely by European funding but still short of what is needed for next winter.
- Russian attacks wrecked roughly half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure before winter and caused more than $56 billion in sector damage.
- Power outages this winter left cities such as Mykolaiv without heat and water and prompted a January 14 state of emergency in the energy sector.
- Since the full-scale invasion Ukraine has added over 3 gigawatts of new renewable capacity and installed at least 1.5 gigawatts of solar in 2025 alone.
- Policy and operators are prioritizing decentralized systems like rooftop solar, microgrids, batteries and modest gas plants to make the system harder to disable by strikes.
- European governments and donor programs bankroll most of the rebuild projects, including local installs that keep schools and hospitals running during blackouts.
- Grid operators invested about 0.5 gigawatts of storage capacity in 2024 and 2025, and large projects such as the 500 megawatt Tyligulska wind farm are proceeding near the front despite the risks