Ukraine's gas infrastructure ready to work without Russian gas transit – stress test results
The gas transmission system (GTS) and underground gas storages (UGS) of Ukraine are ready to operate under conditions of zero transit, the Ministry of Energy announced, citing a stress test initiated by it.
The modeling of the work was carried out by a working group composed of and with the assistance of the USAID Energy Security Project, the Energy Community Secretariat, the Directorate General of the Joint Research Center of the European Commission, Simone Research Group, NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, Ukrtransgaz and the GTS Operator of Ukraine.
In addition, the GTS of Ukraine is ready for the 2023/2024 heating season in the face of military risk and damage to major assets, and domestic UGS facilities can be used for reliable storage of European gas.
"Such an independent technical assessment was given by an international expert group after modeling the operation of the GTS and UGS facilities according to potential scenarios in the event of enemy attacks on gas infrastructure, other emergencies and a stop in the transit of Russian gas," the ministry said in a statement.
According to Minister of Energy Herman Haluschenko, quoted in a press release, the Russian Federation can terminate the transit contract on any day, so the Ukrainian gas infrastructure must be ready for possible challenges.
"An independent technical assessment of any process is always necessary. It confirms that our processes meet international standards, which in itself is already a guarantee of the services we provide," Oleksiy Chernyshev, head of Naftogaz, said in turn, whose words are also quoted in message.
At the same time, OGTSU General Director Dmytro Lyppa noted that the company's specialists, together with colleagues from UTG, analyzed possible crisis situations and worked out scenarios for their resolution.
"We are pleased to publish a positive opinion of independent international experts on the correctness of the calculations. It confirms the reliability of Ukraine's gas infrastructure even during a full-scale invasion of the Russians," the press service of the Energy Ministry quoted him as saying.
