Wind turbines and hydrogen: the Germans figured out how to replace Russian gas for Ukraine

Gennady Charodeyev

The topic of "fraternal" assistance to Ukraine, especially after the agreement between the United States and Germany on the "Nord Stream-2" was reached, is already being openly discussed in the West. It seems like they found a way out of this situation and left Russia "with a nose".

Valentin Zemlyansky, director of energy programs at the Center for World Economy and International Relations of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, is forced to state: "The Ukrainian gas transportation system is being managed by foreign partners, and it will largely depend on them whether at least some transit through the Ukrainian territory will continue".

Speaking on one of the TV channels in Kiev, the expert stressed that President Zelensky had a chance to create an international consortium and remain in an advantageous position, but this chance has long been missed.

“It is now clear that Germany, at the behest of Washington, is becoming the “overseer” in the energy sector, therefore it is Berlin that will henceforth dictate the conditions of the game. And it is no coincidence that the agreement between Biden and Merkel refers to a special representative who will come to Ukraine and figure out what to do next with the Ukrainian gas transportation system”, - Valentin Zemlyansky said.

At the same time, the expert noted that the Ukrainian authorities should have taken care of the country's gas transportation system for a long time, modernized, reconstructed it in accordance with all modern requirements. Then it would be much easier for them to negotiate with Gazprom on maintaining transit.

By the way, after the launch of the Turkish Stream, one of the branches of the Ukrainian GTS had to be turned off, because there was no longer any need for it. The rest are working. Gaprom says that if gas transit does not fall to 20 billion cubic meters, then there will be no problems in the future. Otherwise, funds will have to be found to preserve the compressors. But when demand returns, they can be restarted.

Meanwhile, Deputy General Director for Gas Problems of the National Energy Security Fund Oleksiy Grivach believes that the Ukrainian gas transportation system is experiencing a significant shortage of funds for repairs and modernization. According to him, the system needs at least $ 10 billion. Since the republic does not have such funds, the authorities need to think about how to optimize their gas transportation system.

According to Valentin Zemlyansky, in some sections of the pipeline, the wear of the system is 80%. “However, today no one can say how much money is needed for restoration and modernization, because it is not known what volumes of pumping should be guided by. If we are talking about preserving the current potential of 100 billion cubic meters, this will be one story, and if about 20 billion, it will be completely different, ”the expert noted.

According to Zemlyansky, Kiev has not solved any of the issues, therefore Berlin is taking this topic into its own hands. "The German special envoy will either put things in order here, or finally bury Ukraine as a transit state," the scientist-analyst concluded.

But it seems that the Ukrainian leadership has no time to patch holes in the "pipe" now. Kiev hopes to become Berlin's closest energy ally for the foreseeable future. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is confident that Russian gas will soon lose its importance.

Recently, the head of the Ukrainian Hydrogen Council, Alexander Repkin, paid a visit to the capital of Germany. There he visited high offices and convinced officials that Ukraine was ready to build up its territory with wind turbines to generate electricity. It will be used to split water and then generate "green" hydrogen.

According to the newspaper Die Welt, Repkin everywhere demonstrated his confidence that the "Nezalezhnaya wind" has no borders, and Ukraine "dreams of occupying one of the key values in the EU wind energy". Although temporarily the first place remains with Britain.

Such a source of energy, said the head of the "hydrogen council", will be able to provide the population of Europe with independence from Russian energy resources. To implement the plan, Germany is required to invest 1 billion euros.

The fact is that Berlin is really making grandiose plans for the "green" hydrogen - the Germans by 2050 intend to abandon the "gray" option generated by nuclear energy.

Hydrogen production is considered a key technology in the fight against climate change - both in aviation and in heating systems. This technology can also play a central role in storing "green electricity". The calculation is as follows: if Germany and Europe will soon put forward high environmental requirements to prevent climate change, then gas from the Russian Federation as a fossil fuel will quickly lose its relevance.

In addition, Ukrainians are counting on the help of the Green Party of Germany. Moreover, the candidate for the post of Chancellor Annalena Berbock, speaking on behalf of this faction, has repeatedly criticized Nord Stream 2. And the local left recently announced in the Bundestag that Kiev could become the main partner of the Germans in the production of "clean" energy.

Political analyst Alexander Khramchikhin told Novye Izvestia that he does not believe in the Zelensky-Repkin hydrogen project. Ukraine cannot come to terms with the fact that the "Nord Stream-2" will be completed, and therefore Kiev expects to win the "energy war" against Russia in the second half. The Germans are a sober, practical people and, having made the calculations, most likely, they will refuse their Ukrainian partners. After all, they will have to pay several billion euros.

- "Of course hydrogen production, wind parks, it does not matter - they are big or small, require significant investments - a senior fellow at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies IMEMO Stanislav Pritchin said to Novye Izvestia. - To fill the minimum volume of the Ukrainian GTS, it will be necessary to restructure the entire economy of the country. In general, I believe that politicians again play an unattractive role in this whole story.

Meanwhile, according to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, the authorities of Germany and Ukraine have agreed on a joint project for the production of hydrogen fuel. Within its framework, a plant will be built in Mariupol with the participation of the Siemens Energy campaign and the Ukrainian energy company Rinat Akhmetov DTEK. This is part of a possible deal in which Germany is expanding support for Ukraine, and the United States does not interfere with the completion of Nord Stream 2.