The Ukrainian GTS and UGS are ready to operate under conditions of zero transit. The gas transmission system is also prepared for the Winter Package 2023/2024 in the context of war challenges, while domestic UGS facilities can be used as reliable storage for European gas. This independent technical assessment was provided by an international expert group after modeling the operation of the GTS and UGS under potential scenarios involving attacks on the gas infrastructure, other emergency situations, and the halt of Russian gas transit.
The corresponding report has been published on the website of USAID - Energy Security Project.
"We are fighting against a cunning enemy - Russia can terminate the contract at any time, regardless of legal formalities. Therefore, our GTS must be prepared for potential challenges. Our GTS becomes an even more powerful component of the European gas transmission system. The key goal is to create an energy hub in Ukraine, particularly for gas storage by EU countries. To achieve this, tremendous work has been done to certify Ukrtransgaz as a gas storage operator according to European standards. Despite military risks, we are doing everything possible to provide guarantees to European traders for gas storage in Ukraine," noted Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko.
The assessment of technical conditions during the stress test confirmed the reliability of gas transportation and storage, even in conditions of military risk and damage to key assets.
"We have received confirmation of the reliability of ensuring uninterrupted operation for foreign companies with Ukrainian UGS facilities. An independent technical assessment of any process is always a necessity. This confirms that our processes adhere to international standards, which in itself is a guarantee of the services we provide," stated the Chairman of the Naftogaz Group, Oleksiy Chernyshov.
All scenarios simulate the failure of various combinations of critical infrastructure objects. The analysis also takes into account data on attacks on objects in 2022/2023, the structure, and characteristics of damage in different regions of Ukraine.
"The operator of Ukraine's GTS takes its responsibility to its service customers extremely seriously, both domestic and international. It is important for us to be a clear and transparent partner for our clients. Therefore, together with our colleagues from Ukrtransgaz, our dispatchers analyzed possible crisis situations and worked out scenarios for their resolution. We are pleased to announce the positive conclusion of independent international experts regarding the accuracy of our calculations. It confirms the reliability of Ukraine's gas infrastructure even during a full-scale Russian invasion," said Dmytro Lippa, CEO of OGTSU.
According to the conclusions of independent SRG experts, the modeled stress-test scenarios are accurate and confirm the technical resilience of Ukraine's UGS facilities.
"Together with our partners, we developed various scenarios for stress-testing our underground gas storage system. We have sufficient capacity to extract natural gas even in the event of damage to the gas infrastructure due to enemy attacks. This was confirmed by the independent technical assessment," emphasized Roman Malyutin, the head of Ukrtransgaz.
The corresponding stress-test was initiated by the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine. The modeling was carried out by a working group consisting of and with the support of USAID's Energy Security Project, the Secretariat of the Energy Community, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Simone Research Group, NJSC "Naftogaz of Ukraine," and respectively Ukrtransgaz and the Operator of the Gas Transmission System of Ukraine
