Author: Kazbulat Shogenov

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) was held at Sharm EL Sheikh International Convention Center in Egypt from 6 to 18 November 2022. COP27 is designed to contribute to the global fight against climate change and the achievement of the goals of the Paris Agreement.

More than 190 countries took part in COP27, including Ukraine. The conference program is packed with events and covers a wide range of issues, such as policies and actions for sustainable development, approaches to reducing CO₂ emissions, climate change mitigation, community support, funding mechanisms, R&D, innovations and technologies.

Ukraine, which had previously participated in the event for many years, was represented by its own pavilion for the first time. The main task was to demonstrate the devastating effects of the war to the whole world and to gain support for the revival of the country, as well as tell the world about Ukraine’s commitment to climate goals and aspirations for development. Decarbonization, energy efficiency, digitization of administrative services, and resource and waste management became important topics from the point of view of work prospects in Ukraine.

During the UNDP UKRAINE PANEL DISCUSSION, GREEN AND RESILIENT RECOVERY FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT climate goals of Ukraine in the field of energy were presented  https://ucn.org.ua/?p=8915. Ukraine undertook to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65%. It is now recorded that CO2 emissions in Ukraine have increased by 23% compared to 2021. Ukraine has declared a transition to climate neutrality by 2060. It is planned to receive 25% of electricity from RES by 2030 – “green recovery”. In general, during the hostilities, the country lost about 90% of the wind power located in the occupied territory, and about 30% of the solar power. There were calls for energy transition for Ukraine: to ensure appropriate legislative regulation and a favorable investment climate for the creation of new truly peaceful energy capacities – based on renewable energy.

For more information, please read: Ukraine-COP27.doc

Gas injection to Ukrainian UGSs reached a record this year – almost 40 mcm

On July 26, the injection of natural gas into Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities reached the highest level since the beginning of the year – 39.6 mcm per day. 

Compared to the previous day, the volume of injection increased by 6% (2 mcm). At the same time, natural gas withdrawal is practically absent.

Since the beginning of the current injection season, about 3 bcm of natural gas has been injected into storage facilities.

As of August 8, 12.2 bcm of natural gas are stored in underground gas storage facilities not including the Vergunske UGS).

By the beginning of the next heating season (October, 15), the storage capacity must be ensured by at least 19 bcm.

Link https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-economy/3546261-zapasi-gazu-u-shovisah-stanovlat-122-milarda-kubiv-smigal.html 

Ukraine and three other countries want to create a “hydrogen corridor” to the EU based on the GTS

Four leading Central European gas infrastructure companies have joined forces to develop a hydrogen highway through Central Europe.

The focus of the joint initiative called the Central European Hydrogen Corridor is on developing a hydrogen “highway” in Central Europe for the transport of hydrogen from promising future major hydrogen supply areas in Ukraine that offers excellent conditions for large-scale, green hydrogen production via Slovakia and the Czech Republic to large hydrogen demand areas in Germany and the EU. The hydrogen corridor will also enable transporting hydrogen between hydrogen production facilities and hydrogen consumers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Participating companies include EUSTREAM (the Slovak gas TSO), Gas TSO of Ukraine (GTSOU), NET4GAS (the Czech gas TSO) and OGE (a leading German gas TSO).

At the same time, the hydrogen corridor will make it possible to transport hydrogen from production enterprises to hydrogen consumers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Germany is expected to be a key hydrogen demand region in Europe, importing significant volumes to meet demand.

Link: https://www.cehc.eu/en/home/

Ukrainian company ‘Regional Gas Company’  joined Ready4H2, a hydrogen project of European gas distribution system operators (DSOs)

RGC became the first Ukrainian company among 67 members of the Ready4H2 consortium. Ready4H2 consortium brings together major European DSOs who work on getting the gas distribution networks ready to use hydrogen as a part of an overarching objective of achieving their climate neutrality.

The main task of the Ready4H2 consortium is to present the draft hydrogen strategy for Europe’s gas distribution industry. The document will take into account the proposals based on technical expertise, research and experience of handling the hydrogen by DSOs that joined the Ready4H2.

RGC hydrogen project stages:

– Field tests with static tests on test sites

– Dynamic experiments to study the effect of gas-hydrogen mixtures on gas equipment

– data analysis in the laboratories of scientific partners of the RGC hydrogen project

The project has been under implementation since 2020 when five special RGC test sites were established to carry out hydrogen tests of the gas networks and equipment (Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk and Kharkiv regions). The research partners of the RGC hydrogen project include eight research institutions, including the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, organized into a consortium and take part in research and tests within the frameworks of the RGC hydrogen project according to their specialization.

Aside from RGC, Ready4H2 involves DSOs from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain and Sweden.

Link: https://rgc.ua/ua/cleanenergy

Radioactive waste disposal in geological formations in Ukraine

In Ukraine, there are 4 (Zaporizka, Rivnenska, Pivdennoukrainska, Khmelnytska) nuclear power plants (NPP) with 15 power units. The Chornobyl NPP ceased operation on December 15, 2000. As a result of the activity of NPPs, which are the largest producers of waste (95% of their current generation), three main types of radioactive waste (RAW) are generated: gaseous, liquid and solid.

On average, NPPs generate up to 27 m³ of solid radioactive waste and 35 m3 of liquid radioactive waste per 1 billion kWh of electricity generated, depending on the type of reactor.

In general, there is a high degree of filling of storage facilities with solid (from 30 to 70%) and liquid (from 21 to 76%) radioactive waste.

Radioactive waste is divided into classes in order to ensure compliance with waste disposal requirements in four different types of storage:

• surface storage facilities (objects, which by their type correspond to landfills with limited regulatory control),
• near-surface storage facilities with a system of engineering barriers,
• underground storage facilities located at medium depth,
• storage facilities in deep geological formations

Solid and liquid radioactive wastes are located at: NPP, “Shelter” Facility, Exclusion Zone, Decontamination Waste Disposal Sites, Chornobyl NPP, Repositories of separate divisions of the old specialized enterprise “Radon Association”, Research nuclear reactors.

The existence of the Chornobyl exclusion zone determines Ukraine’s strategy in the field of radioactive waste management. Since the exclusion zone has no local population and contains most of the country’s nuclear waste, it appears to be the most suitable location for a repository for the final disposal of the waste in the soil, followed by burial in deep geological formations.

In Ukraine, the process of finding a place for the disposal of radioactive waste in deep geological formations began in 1993. From 1996 to 2003, the territory of Ukraine was investigated in order to evaluate potentially acceptable places. During the years 2000–2006, work was carried out on the comprehensive study of two promising areas for potential radioactive waste storage in geological formations, as well as radioactive waste isolation technologies. Researchers assume that it will be used to store spent nuclear fuel as well as classified radioactive waste. It is also assumed that Ukraine will build new nuclear power plants in accordance with the Energy Strategy of Ukraine until 2035.

Based on the results of preliminary studies, several sites were selected for burial in deep geological formations of high- and medium-level radioactive waste, including waste generated as a result of the decommissioning of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and the decontamination of the station’s territory. It is assumed that about 59 000 m³ of long-lasting waste will be buried on the territory of the geological repository. Taking into account the fact that 95% of all long-lived waste with long decay periods is stored in the Chornobyl exclusion zone, a special study on the use of this area for the purpose of final disposal was initiated. Most of the research on this issue is carried out in Ukraine within the framework of international technical assistance projects, which are implemented with the aim of obtaining a scientific justification for future decisions. According to the results of geological and geophysical studies, two sites located within the Ukrainian shield were selected for drilling: Veresnianska and Tovstolisova.

Research in the framework of the creation of a storage area for the disposal of nuclear waste in deep geological formations is ongoing.

The most comprehensive overview of nuclear waste stored and handled in Ukraine can be found in the National Report On Compliance with Obligations under the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management  

Link: https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/national_report_of_ukraine_for_the_6th_review_meeting_-_english.pdf