When it comes to energy, Ukraine strives to be a part of Europe’s present and future. Historically, our country has been transporting and storing natural gas for neighbouring countries, but it already partakes in the creation of new markets – those of biomethane and hydrogen. A respective statement was made by Dmytro Lyppa, GTSOU’s General Director, at the “Energy for the recovery of Ukraine” international conference held in Warsaw (Poland).

As of today, Ukraine provides an over 200 mcm-worth of daily capacity at exit points to EU countries. These facilities are used for natural gas transmission and re-export to the EU, but they can also connect other markets – those of biomethane and hydrogen. Together with the Slovakian, Czech and German GTS operators, Ukraine is working on the creation of the Central European Hydrogen Corridor.

“To make energy transition, Europe is rethinking energy sources and ways of its delivery. Similarly, we at GTSOU suggest rethinking the Trans-Balkan Corridor, i.e., expanding the gas pipeline’s capacity in the reverse mode and connecting Ukrainian storage facilities, Greek LNG terminals and Eastern and Central European consumers into one chain. This is a fast and the most rational way to create a powerful bridge between markets,” Dmytro Lyppa emphasised.

According to the GTSOU’s estimates, in the next 3 to 5 years there is going to be a 10 bcm-worth surplus of natural gas in southern Europe, and those volumes can be transported to Ukraine for storage.

Dmytro Lyppa noted that the Polish direction, too, has significant potential for the development of further cooperation between the two countries. Poland is seeing an active development of LNG infrastructure, while Ukraine has sufficient natural gas storage capacities and a flexible gas transmission system, which enables it to rapidly pump gas between regions.
Since the start of 2023, almost 600 mcm of gas have been transported from Poland to Ukraine. Between July and September, available capacities were fully booked and used.

The international conference “Energy for the recovery of Ukraine” was held in Warsaw on November 14-15 at the initiative of Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy. Representatives of over 500 companies from 30 countries took part in the conference. Ukraine’s delegation was led by the country’s Minister of Energy German Galushchenko.