Solar station for Bucha’s HotuIemo central kitchen

Bucha’s central school kitchen goes solar: why it needs a 4 MWh battery and how it will repay the loan

The solar station is meant to cover most of the enterprise’s electricity needs. What the battery gives during power cuts and what Bucha is sharing with other cities.

Bucha FM · 27 September 2026 at 14:121 min read

Photo: Bucha City Council

Participants of the coordination meeting outside the HotuIemo central kitchen in Bucha, 25 September

The Bucha community is launching a hybrid solar power station with an energy storage system for the municipal enterprise Fabryka-Kukhnia “HotuIemo” (a central school kitchen). The station is expected to cover 77% of the enterprise’s electricity needs, mayor Anatolii Fedoruk said. His post was also shared by the city council.

Why a battery

The 4 MWh storage system is meant to keep critical equipment running during power cuts and make the kitchen more self-sufficient. It is not the community’s first such station: a solar plant with storage was recently installed at the borehole in Sklozavod.

We will be able to sell surplus electricity to the grid. This will help the enterprise gradually repay the loan taken out to install the system
Anatolii Fedorukmayor of Bucha

Anatolii Fedoruk at the HotuIemo serving line

Experience for other cities

The mayor presented this approach on 25 September at a coordination meeting held at the kitchen, attended by representatives of ministries, the European Investment Bank, UNDP and the School Nutrition Reform Team.

Central kitchens are now being launched in five more Ukrainian cities, so Bucha is sharing practical experience: not only how to build and open such an enterprise, but how to make it efficient day to day. Vyshneve also has its own central kitchen project.