Blocked “blue ocean”, or What prevents Ukraine from becoming a major supplier of biomethane to Europe

Ukraine has a significant potential for biomethane production. Taking into account the biomass from cover crops that can be grown on 20% of arable land, the potential for biomethane production in Ukraine is 21.8 billion m³/year. But this is possible only if favorable conditions are created for the development of the industry. Therefore, today there is an urgent need for the market to urgently adopt Draft Law No. 9456 on biomethane exports. The committee is currently considering the amendments, which were submitted on February 21.

Biomethane producers are quite satisfied with the brief format of the law in the first reading, but the question arises: is it satisfactory to the committee? According to Georgii Geletukha, Chairman of the Board of the Bioenergy Association of Ukraine, the main phrase of the first reading is: “customs regulation will be identical for both biomethane and natural gas.” Producers are satisfied with this, but because biomethane is similar to natural gas and is transported by the same route, the committee fears that natural gas exports will not begin under the guise of biomethane. After all, its transportation is banned until the end of martial law. Currently, fuses are being prepared for the second reading that will regulate customs clearance, which will confirm the presence of biomethane.

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