Pumping capacity via the Ukrainian gas-transit corridor has held at the previous minimum level on Thursday, and it remains 50% below the booking level under the long-term contract of 109 million cubic meters of gas per day, while the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline is still not in use.
Booking capacity of Gazprom for gas transit via Ukraine on Thursday, February 17, is 50.6 million cubic meters compared to Wednesday’s updated booking capacity of 51.6 million cubic meters, according to data of the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine.
Among the gas-export pipelines, Gazprom primarily loads Nord Stream at 170 million cubic meters per day, and then loads the Ukrainian gas-transit corridor, thereby leaving the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline in a closing or balancing role. Gazprom again did not book capacity via Yamal-Europe on February 17, and direct flow along the pipeline ceased on December 21.
The presence of unclaimed gas-transit capacity in the list of transit alternatives this winter demonstrates the baselessness of the claims that the lack of Gazprom’s reserves in underground gas storage (UGS) facilities in Europe has been causing rises in prices. Reserves in underground gas storages should, if necessary, compensate for the lack of supplies via gas pipelines, though Gazprom has large transit possibilities in reserve.
It is already possible to talk in general about the heating season concluding, as winter has been rather mild in Europe this year, with the average temperature in February being two-and-a-half degrees warmer than the previous year. According to forecasts, the week of February 14 to 20 should be two-and-a-half degrees warmer than the previous week of February 7 to 13.
Electricity generation from renewable sources in Europe has been rising solidly each day this week. Wind generation contributed 17.2% to electricity generation in the week of February 7 to 13 in the region following 16% in the week of January 31 to February 6, and it rose to 28.6% on Wednesday, which was the highest figure since March 2021, according to data from the WindEurope association.
The level of gas reserves in underground storage facilities in Europe following the results of the gas day on February 15 dropped to 32.22% on Wednesday morning. This was 12.5 percentage points below the average for the past five years, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe. During the first 15 days of February, gas consumption from UGS facilities exceeded the average level over the past five years by 25%.
Gas flow from LNG terminals into the European gas-transit system in February 2022 should double compared to the level of February 2021. Average capacity utilization of regasification terminals in February is 64%.
The price of gas for Thursday delivery at the benchmark European trading platform, the Dutch TTF gas hub, is $806 per thousand cubic meters, averaging $905 per thousand cubic meters since the beginning of February.
Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB has accredited Atomenergomash, a separate subdivision of Energoatom, as a supplier of top and bottom nozzles for the company’s fuel assemblies; production of these components is expected to start within six months, Energoatom’s press service reported.
“Necessary equipment has been installed at Atomenergomash to launch manufacturing. At present, pre-commissioning, commissioning, and operation qualification process are going to come to the end. Manufacturing top and bottom nozzles for Westinghouse fuel assemblies are expected to begin within six months,” Hryhoriy Horodner, General Director of Atomenergomash, said.
It is also noted that accreditation was preceded by the successful completion of an audit of Atomenergomash’s integrated management system for compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 “Quality Management System. Requirements,” SQSR 13-067 “Supplier Quality System Requirements,” as reported by Westinghouse to Energoatom.
“These components are likely to be used not only for manufacturing fuel assemblies to be supplied by Westinghouse for the needs of Ukrainian nuclear power plants, but also for the needs of other consumers of these Westinghouse products across the globe,” Energoatom said.
One of the priorities of Energoatom for 2022 is to launch production of some components for fuel assemblies using Westinghouse technology at Atomenergomash, the report said.
Atomenergomash is a multifunctional service subdivision of Energoatom, which develops and manufactures certified products as well as carries out unit and restoring repair of heat-exchange and heat machinery equipment, pipeline components for nuclear and thermal power plants of Ukraine.
International IT outsourcer Sii Group in January joined the Ukrainian division of Sii Ukraine to the Polish Sii Poland and announced large-scale growth of the company in Ukraine.
“In order to diversify the candidates’ resource pool and increase competitiveness, Sii Poland decided to expand and invest in Ukraine. The contract has been finalized in November 2021. The company intends to hire dozens of engineers in the coming months. We decided to make an investment on the Ukrainian market because it has huge potential,” the company quoted Gregoire Nitot, CEO of Sii Poland, Sweden, and Ukraine as saying.
The company stressed that more than 200,000 highly qualified IT specialists work in Ukraine, which makes it an attractive place for investment.
“Our goal is to make Sii Ukraine a large delivery center, just like Sii Poland is today. We hope to hire hundreds of engineers and open new offices in many Ukrainian cities,” Nitot said.
Sii Poland informed the Ukrainian IT media DOU that they plan to hire 2,000-3,000 employees, mainly IT specialists, and open offices in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro and other cities.
Sii Ukraine was opened in 2006. Currently, the company employs about 30 specialists, working in the office located in Odesa.
A merger of the subsidiary with Sii Poland is connected with dozens of open IT positions, but also back office specialists in Ukraine.
Sii Group was founded in 1979. The company employs 13,000 people worldwide and has opened 88 locations. The company is a global business partner in the field of IT, engineering, digital technologies and business process outsourcing (BPO) services. Its Sii Poland division is considered the largest Polish IT service provider.
British Secretary of State Liz Truss will make her first visit to Ukraine on Thursday, February 17, at the invitation of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
“The visit of the head of the British Foreign Office is aimed at deepening the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United Kingdom, coordinating further actions to strengthen security on the European continent,” the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
Kuleba and Truss will hold talks on joint measures to deter the Russian Federation from further aggression, practical support for Ukraine from the UK in strengthening its defense capability.
“The heads of foreign affairs agencies will discuss a wide range of issues of the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the UK in the field of security, including cybersecurity, as well as in the areas of trade and investment,” the report says.
Kuleba and Truss will hold a joint press conference online.
Ukraine has reported 33,330 new cases of COVID-19, in addition to 27,441 recoveries and 259 deaths in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Health Ministry said on Thursday.
“Over the past day, Ukraine has recorded 33,330 new cases of COVID-19, including 2,837 children and 961 medical workers, while 66,082 people have been vaccinated, among them 18,504 who received the first dose, 28,948 who received the second dose, 606 who received an additional dose, and 18,024 who received a booster shot. In the past 24 hours, 3,284 people have been hospitalized, 259 have died, and 27,441 have recovered,” the ministry said on Telegram.
There were 31,513 new cases of COVID-19 in Ukraine the day before.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Ukraine has seen a total of 4,637,260 COVID-19 cases, including 3,866,755 recoveries and 103,824 deaths.
As many as 15,613,689 people have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in Ukraine to date.
On the night of February 16-17, the Maran Excellence ship with 160,000 tonnes of Colombian coal for the needs of PJSC Centrenergo moored in the port of Pivdenny, unloading is underway at a deep-sea berth, the press service of the generating company reported.
“One of the largest bulk carriers (capesize), with a deadweight (maximum allowable load) of more than 180,000 tonnes, delivered 160,000 tonnes of high-quality Colombian coal to Ukraine for the needs of the Centrenergo generation,” the company said on its website on Thursday .
It notes that such a significant consignment of coal was delivered to Centrenergo for the first time by sea in accordance with contracts concluded with international traders.
“Despite the difficult situation that has developed in the Black Sea due to the training of the Russian Federation, the vessel successfully passed through a safe additional corridor to the Ukrainian port and arrived at its destination according to the schedule,” the generating company stressed.
Until the end of February this year, Centrenergo expects the next two ships with a total volume of coal of 214,000 tonnes.
The company assured that the replenishment of stocks at warehouses of thermal power plants due to the diversification of coal sources and the support of the Ministry of Energy and the State Property Fund of Ukraine will allow confidently going through the heating season and ensuring the reliable operation of the Ukrainian power system during peak hours.
