OREANDA-NEWS. August 26, 2015. "Facing economic challenges, the use of alternative energy sources is essential to ensure sustainable development of the agrarian sector of Ukraine", said Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Oleksii Pavlenko during a working visit to the Omelyanenko farm in Kirovohrad region.

The Omelyanenko farm has for cultivation about 5.2 thousand hectares of land and specializes in the production of grain and industrial crops, with cultivation of corn as a priority direction.

Production capacities of the enterprise include 2 elevators (with the capacity of 9 thousand tons and 12 thousand tons respectively). At the present time, construction of an elevator with the capacity of 40 thousand tons is underway.

The company invests in renewable energy sources, it has constructed an office building which is fully heated with thermal pumps.

So, in 2012, in the village of Ivanivka there was built the first solar power plant with the capacity of 1.3 MW worth 26.9 million hryvnias.

In 2014, there was put into operation a moving ground-based solar power plant with the capacity of 90 kW, where was introduced a unique management system to operate modes of the solar power plant, as well as a dynamic solar tracking system.

"Now Ukraine is paving the way to ensure sustainable energy independence. In particular, we have a good potential for the production of bioethanol, with the country's agricultural sector as an inexhaustible source for it. Such investment activity conducted by the Omelyanenko farm is a good contribution to the energy security of our state", said Minister Oleksii Pavlenko.