Solar power plant completed at Chornobyl with Japan funds | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

A large-scale solar power plant has been completed at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine with financial support from the Japanese government.

The new facility is meant to ensure a stable power supply at the Chornobyl plant, which experienced one of the worst nuclear disasters in history in 1986.

A ceremony was held on Wednesday to mark the completion of the solar power plant. It stands next to the No. 4 reactor, which suffered a catastrophic explosion in the 1986 disaster.

Decommissioning work continues and spent nuclear fuel is stored at the plant.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the plant has often come under Russian attack. In February 2025, the dome covering the No. 4 reactor was struck by a drone. The dome was built to contain the radioactive substances from the 1986 disaster.

The new plant reportedly has about 7,000 solar panels. The generated power will be used for monitoring the No. 4 reactor and decommissioning other reactors.

Japan extended financial support of about 825,000 dollars to set up the new plant through the United Nations Development Programme.

Ukrainian Deputy Energy Minister Anatolii Kutsevol said the project "became a great and vivid example of how areas once perceived by many as exclusion zones -- places where nothing could exist or operate -- can in fact serve the common good."

Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Osumi Yo said that Japan has continued providing support from both the public and private sectors since the accident 40 years ago. He went on to say that it will be important for Japan to continue doing what it can and produce concrete results.