USA (bbabo.net), - The first Ukrainian forum on biomethane is taking place in Ukraine. They want to make green gas one of the fuel sources for hundreds of small power plants, which will become a solution to the problem of Russian retaliatory attacks on power plants. But this takes years and existing production facilities in Ukraine are stopped because the cost of green gas is too high.
This is the second week that Ukraine has been chronically short of its own electricity. It is no longer winter and not yet summer. But even now, any small temperature difference causes a fever in the Ukrainian energy system. Retaliatory strikes by the Russian army on March 22, 29 and April 11 against the country's energy facilities seriously damaged or completely stopped seven thermal power plants, four combined heat and power plants and three state district power plants with a design capacity of about 16 GW. Kyiv announced a power loss of 7 GW. Ukraine has lost its energy flexibility and is compensating for failures with emergency imports of electricity.
The West is looking for a green energy strategy to protect Ukraine from retaliatory attacks. Naftogaz of Ukraine announces the holding of the country's first forum on biomethane.
“According to analysts’ calculations, only the existing raw material base will allow Ukraine to produce 21.8 billion cubic meters of biogas or biomethane,” the national company said. The announced figures exceed the current natural gas production in the country.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt said via video link that Ukraine has increased its wind and solar generation capacity 10-fold over the past 10 years, to 10 GW. And you can go the same way now - with biomethane. The former US Ambassador to Ukraine proposed actively using agricultural waste to obtain green gas and use it at small but numerous power plants near cities.
“This decision has many benefits. Firstly, technological losses due to the transport of electrons hundreds of kilometers from large coal plants are reduced. Moreover, biomethane plants will decentralize the Ukrainian energy system and improve its flexibility to receive electricity from renewable energy sources. And finally, this modern distribution system is easier to maintain and maintain in the event of continued attacks,” said Geoffrey Pyatt. As an example, he cited Odessa, which dealt with power outages faster than Kharkov, thanks to green energy, which is located in the south of Ukraine.
European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson limited herself to more general words, but pointed out that the use of biomethane in Ukraine is a long-term initiative in response to retaliatory attacks that left Ukraine without thermal power plants, thermal power plants and state district power plants.
“In the near term, we will continue to supply critical equipment for repair and replacement of damaged infrastructure... In Ukraine, biomethane will be important for the economy and decarbonization of the energy sector in the long term,” the European Commissioner said. According to her, the situation showed how important it is to deploy decentralized energy production facilities: “Dispersed energy sources, such as renewable wind and solar power, as well as renewable gases, are more resistant to attack. On the EU side, we see biomethane as a readily available solution that can help us immediately replace imported gas from Russia. Under the RepowerEU plan, we have set a target to increase biomethane production to 35 billion cubic meters by 2030, ten times our current production!”
Earlier, Ukrenergo proposed decentralizing the country's generating capacities.
“That is, instead of 15 or 20 large power plants, it is necessary to build hundreds of small ones, from 5 to 30 MW of capacity. They will be more resistant to these attacks due to their dispersion,” said the head of the Ukrainian energy system operator Vladimir Kudritsky. According to him, in addition to solar and wind power plants, which are highly dependent on the weather, technologies are needed to balance: “These include small but highly maneuverable gas power plants and energy storage systems, and modern thermal generation using biogas and other renewable fuels.”
Last year, the German gas industry association Zukunft Gas came up with similar initiatives.
Only the green strategy of decentralizing Ukraine's energy system to protect against Russian retaliation has two problems: money and time. This type of defense can only be suitable if the military defense in Ukraine lasts for years to come.
At the same time, the biomethane production stations already built in the country are idle and only European companies that are ready to buy green gas at a high price may be interested in them.
The head of the alternative energy department at Hals Agro, Oleg Ryabov, told Delo.ua in February that his company stopped biomethane production due to economic inexpediency.
“There is also no point in producing biomethane for the internal needs of an agricultural holding now, even with the availability of free biomass. In the current conditions, it is much more profitable to use fossil energy resources,” noted a representative of the company, which has the largest biomethane capacity in Ukraine. According to him, Hals Agro installations in the Chernigov and Khmelnitsky regions with a total capacity of 6 million cubic meters will start operating immediately after the opening of the opportunity to sell green gas to Europe.
Oleg Ryabov provided calculations: the cost of biomethane is at least 600 euros per thousand cubic meters, and usually 800-900 euros, while natural gas costs approximately 350 euros.
With wind and solar power plants, the cost issue is resolved through feed-in tariffs, where the guaranteed buyer pays an increased cost, which is compensated by the state. However, Ukraine does not have the funds to pay off the existing feed-in tariffs.
The head of Ukrenergo reported that the process of increasing debt continues. Debts to owners of solar and wind power plants amounted to $500 million in 2023.
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