Minister Herman
Halushchenko speaks with S&P Global
Commodity Insights Senior Vice President, Amb. Carlos Pascual for a new edition of CERAWeek
Conversations – available at
https://ondemand.ceraweek.com/cwc
WASHINGTON, Oct. 27,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Recent attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure have destroyed
more than 30% of the country's power generation capacity. In an
exclusive interview for CERAWeek Conversations, Ukraine's minister of energy, Herman
Halushchenko makes real the impact on Ukraine's people and the economy—and how
Ukraine seeks to rebuild.
In a conversation with Amb. Carlos
Pascual, senior vice president for global energy and
international affairs, S&P Global Commodity Insights and a
former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine,
Minister Halushchenko details the various dimensions of the war's
impact on Ukraine's energy systems
and the country's response to Russian attempts to weaponize energy
to its strategic advantage.
The wide-ranging discussion covered:
Aerial attacks on Ukraine's
power-generation facilities:
A combination of Iranian-supplied drones, aircraft attacks
originating from Russian and Belarusian territory, and missile
launches from Russia's Black Sea
fleet have been targeting Ukraine's thermal generation facilities in
central and western Ukraine,
Minister Halushchenko notes.
"One of the goals which we see in this massive shelling is
[Russia] wants to split our energy
system into different areas," he said. "The idea [is] that when
they split the system—or if they do—it's easier to damage during
the wintertime."
Gas flows through Ukraine:
Approximately 40-45 mmcm/d of Russian gas are currently still
flowing through Ukraine, levels
that are well below contracted amounts. Minister Halushchenko says
that it is indicative of how gas has been used as a measure to
pressure European countries to break their solidarity with
Ukraine and with each other. He
notes that when the war started, Russia dramatically increased the volumes of
gas transited through Ukraine to
maximum levels—a move designed to curry European support, he says.
However, when support for Ukraine
held Russia responded by
decreasing flows to minimum levels. Ukraine, he projects, will need to import gas
from December through March.
Ukraine's gas storage
systems:
Ukraine operates one of the
largest underground storage systems for natural gas in the world.
That storage infrastructure has largely been unscathed by Russian
attacks. As Europe prepares for
winter, Minister Halushchenko says that Ukraine's storage system can play a role in
bolstering energy security across the continent.
"[Our storage infrastructure is] quite secure," he says. "Any
attempts to hit this infrastructure have failed. It's very
difficult to reach."
"We welcome any foreign companies to store gas in our storages.
It's important for us to maintain the system. [It is a] good
business opportunity for companies to have this gas and then to
sell it during the heating season when the price is high. The price
of storage in Ukraine is very
cheap compared to the storages in Europe."
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant:
Europe's largest nuclear power
facility has been at the center of ongoing shelling for months.
Minister Halushchenko provides an operational status report of the
plant and details the human toll being exacted on the Ukrainian
engineers who oversee day-to-day operations.
"Russia is trying to push our
staff to agree to work for [them]...," Minister Halushchenko said.
"The people are under pressure. [They are] exhausted physically but
they are responsible for nuclear safety."
The conversation with Minister Halushchenko also details the
status of energy supplies for Ukraine's agribusiness sector and the success
of its recent efforts to synchronize the country's power grid with
European Union power markets, which he said was an important shield
against possible terrorist attacks on the Ukrainian power grid.
That synchronization also gave Ukraine the ability to trade electricity with
the European Union. Cutting off electricity exports is another
motivation for the Russian shelling of energy infrastructure, he
said.
The complete video is available at:
https://ondemand.ceraweek.com/cwc
Podcast version available: CERAWeek Conversations is also
available via audio podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google
Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and Stitcher.
About CERAWeek Conversations:
CERAWeek Conversations features original interviews and
discussion with energy industry leaders, government officials and
policymakers, leaders from the technology, financial and industrial
communities—and energy technology innovators.
The series is produced by the team responsible for the world's
preeminent energy conference, CERAWeek by S&P Global.
Media Contacts:
S&P Global: Jeff Marn
+1-202-463-8213, Jeff.marn@spglobal.com
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