Crimea will remain without gas from the mainland for three days

According to Kommersant, the gas supply to Crimea from the territory of the Russian Federation may stop for three days. This is due to work on tie-in of an additional compressor station on the gas pipeline from the Krasnodar Territory, which should compensate for the decline in its own production on the peninsula and provide a reserve for supplies to the Kherson region. On the territory of the peninsula, the largest consumers of gas are the Balaklava and Tavricheskaya TPPs for 940 MW, which plan to switch to diesel fuel during the gas supply cut. Retail gas consumers will not be affected by the shutdown.

On the evening of November 29, gas supplies to Crimea from Russia may stop for three days, according to Kommersant sources familiar with the situation. Now the peninsula is supplied by a gas pipeline from the Krasnodar Territory with a capacity of 2.2 billion cubic meters. While retail consumers will not be affected, gas supplies to the region’s largest power plants will be cut off. According to one of the interlocutors, the stop will be due to the fact that a compressor station will be inserted into this gas pipeline in order to increase the gas pressure in the pipe. Crimea is also now supplying gas to the Russian-controlled part of the Kherson region.

In the Crimea, we recall, there is a shortage of gas. The production of Chernomorneftegaz on the peninsula is quite low, in 2020 it amounted to about 1 billion cubic meters against 2 billion cubic meters in 2014 immediately after the annexation of Crimea. But there is a large Glebovskoye underground gas storage facility (UGS) in the region. In June, the Ukrainian army hit three Chornomorneftegaz production platforms northwest of the Crimean coast, bringing production to a halt on those platforms. As the head of the region, Sergei Aksyonov, said on September 7, Chornomorneftegaz is ready to continue providing Crimea with gas, and at that time the UGSF was 98% full.

The largest consumer of gas in Crimea is Technopromexport (TPE, controlled by Rostec), which owns gas-fired power plants on the peninsula – Balaklava and Tavricheskaya TPPs with a total capacity of 940 MW. According to Kommersant’s sources, against the backdrop of shutting off the gas supply to Crimea, electricity prices on the day-ahead market (DAM) in the region will increase several times, exceeding 8 thousand rubles. for 1 MW•h in certain hours. The reason for the rise in prices will be, among other things, the price bids of thermal power plants owned by TPE, Kommersant’s interlocutors note.

The TPE told Kommersant that the gas supply organization notified them of the cessation of gas supply to the Balaklava and Tavricheskaya TPPs in the coming days. “It will not affect the operation of the stations in any way. Power plant equipment is designed to operate on emergency liquid fuel in the event of a main fuel supply interruption, ”they said. Rostec also added that “there will be no interruptions in this regard, and the energy supply of the peninsula will be carried out in a stable mode.” The TPE also added that the price bid for participation in the DAM takes into account the type of fuel used, and the shutdown of gas supply forces stations to use diesel fuel, which is obviously many times more expensive. In accordance with the rules of the wholesale market, TPE notified the Market Council and ATS about the current situation. “Influence on RSV prices in Crimea is possible, but only the ATS can say by how much based on the result of the competitive selection of RSV applications,” the TPE specified.

The Ministry of Energy told Kommersant that “today in Crimea, scheduled work begins in the gas transmission network related to the commissioning of a new facility. The work will not affect the electricity and gas supply to consumers on the peninsula in any way.”

Kommersant sent a request to the Market Council (energy market regulator).

As Nikolai Shulginov, head of the Ministry of Energy, reported at a meeting with the President of the Russian Federation on November 3, Russia began to integrate the systems of electricity and gas supply to new regions, including with the Crimean networks, where gas and electricity come from the Krasnodar Territory. “For this, electrical connections with the Crimean energy system, the main gas pipeline were restored. This makes it possible to ensure the balance of electricity and natural gas in the territories of the new entities,” he explained. According to him, conditions have been developed that make it possible to provide electricity to the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions through supplies from the Crimea via an energy bridge.

Tatyana Dyatel, Polina Smertina