There are currently three gas prices in Ukraine: for the population, for budgetary organizations and for commercial enterprises.
According to the expert, knowing the prices for biomass, you can see who benefits from refusing gas boilers / REUTERS illustration
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Against the backdrop of high gas prices the population of Ukraine can easily switch to the use of cheaper alternative fuels.
This, as stated in material UNIAN, said the head of the Bioenergy Association of Ukraine Georgy Geletukha.
“Our future is agricultural biomass. This is something that we have a lot of and which is practically not used – this is straw, corn stalks, sunflower and wheat stalks. This is all absolutely normal fuel,” Geletukha said.
The expert recalled that Ukraine currently has three gas prices: for the population – UAH 8,000 per thousand cubic meters; for budgetary organizations – 16 thousand hryvnias; for commercial enterprises – an average of 35 thousand hryvnia.
According to the expert, knowing the prices for biomass, one can see who benefits from refusing gas boilers and switching to solid fuel. Considering that over the past year the price of firewood in many regions of the country has tripled, the transition to solid fuel boilers is worth doing if there is access to relatively cheap raw materials.
As stated in the material, modern long-burning boilers can operate both on wood and other types of fuel, for example, pellets and granules made from waste wood and agricultural production.
Currently, the price of wood pellets and granules is more than 7 thousand hryvnias per ton, and pellets from sunflower waste or straw cost more than 4 thousand hryvnias per ton.
“The most expensive type of biofuel today is wood pellets. They cost about UAH 7,000 per ton. To replace a thousand cubic meters of gas, two tons are needed. That is, we will pay UAH 14,000 for pellets. cheaper compared to buying gas. Accordingly, it is profitable for businesses to switch to pellets, but not for state employees and the population,” Geletukha explained.
One of the most popular types of biofuels in Ukraine today is wood chips, which cost UAH 2,500 per ton. To replace a thousand cubic meters of gas, three tons of this fuel are needed. Accordingly, it will cost 7.5 thousand hryvnia. In this case, it is profitable to replace gas even for budgetary institutions.
“You will not find wood chips on the market now. Almost everything has been bought. Because this type of raw material is now the most popular,” Geletukha said.
According to the expert, the profitability of switching to biomass with the installation of a special boiler will be good if the price of bioresource is at least two times less than the price of gas.
Gas reserves in Ukraine:
According to Ukrtransgaz, injection into gas storages has been stopped since October 4. The company intended to resume filling UGS facilities, subject to normal weather conditions, but as of today, injection has not been restored.
By the beginning of the 2021-2022 heating season, Ukraine’s underground gas storage facilities had accumulated 19 billion cubic meters. m of gas.
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine stated that such a reserve would be enough for the country to pass the heating season steadily, even with the likely additional needs of thermal power plants, which are faced with the problem of insufficient coal reserves in warehouses.
As of the beginning of 2021, gas reserves in Ukrainian underground storage facilities amounted to 23.5 billion cubic meters, which was a record figure for the last 10 years.
Gas situation in Europe:
- Gas prices in Ukraine correlate with prices at European hubs, since our country has been an integrated part of the European gas market since 2015 and imports about 30% of the total natural gas consumption from Europe.
- As of December 14, 2021 European gas prices have risen to a new record high.
- December 15 spot gas prices in Europe in January exceeded 1.5 thousand. dollars per thousand cubic meters, increasing daily by 7%.
- On December 16, 2021, the cost of gas in Europe exceeded $1700 per thousand cubic meters.
- As of December 20, spot gas prices in Europe for January rose to 1.9 thousand dollars per thousand cubic meters.
- On December 21, 2021, gas in Europe set an absolute price record, exceeding 2 thousand dollars.
- On December 22, 2021, Gazprom announced the average gas export price for 2022.
- December 24, 2021 spot gas prices in Europe in January fell from 2.1 thousand dollars to 1.3 thousand dollars per thousand cubic meters.
- December 28, 2021 spot gas prices in Europe in January fell to 1151 dollars per thousand cubic meters.
- On January 13, 2022, the Russian Gazprom announced that more than half of the gas pumped into underground gas storage facilities in Europe has already raised to the surface.
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