Ahead of the heating season, UKRAVTONOMGAZ and its founder Andriy Dorofeev, together with heat energy experts, released a forecast on community energy security. Analysts warn that a massive focus exclusively on electric generators leaves heating systems vulnerable, as their shutdown threatens infrastructure with freezing, and propose using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a reliable backup.
Threat to Critical Infrastructure
According to industry experts, stopping gas boiler houses in winter even for a short time can lead to irreversible damage to heating systems in residential buildings and social facilities such as hospitals, schools, and kindergartens. "Liquefied gas can be quickly delivered to the site and launch a boiler house that previously ran on natural gas," Dorofeev comments. Video analytics show that securing backup heat requires prior preparation and modernization of existing boiler facilities.
Tax Barriers and Process Economics
However, a serious obstacle to developing such systems and strengthening Ukraine's energy independence has been a 5-fold increase in the excise tax on LPG. Due to tax changes, a large-scale strategic project at one of the country's largest thermal power plants (CHPs) to build an LPG storage backup park with a total volume of 2,000 cubic meters has already been suspended. "Today, the cost price of one gigacalorie of heat from propane-butane is 5,928 hryvnias, with 40% of this amount being the excise tax," emphasizes the head of the enterprise, noting unequal conditions with the EU, where a zero rate applies.
Contradictory Data
On the one hand, experts point to the colossal vulnerability of municipal heating networks when attention is concentrated exclusively on electric generators and prove that generation from propane is 40% more profitable than diesel. On the other hand, a five-fold increase in the excise tax on liquefied gas makes investments in backup storage parks economically challenging, creating a conflict between the need for urgent infrastructure modernization and the state's current fiscal policy amid crisis conditions.
Ministry of Energy Regulations and Prospects
The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine has developed strict regulations for crisis situations. According to Orders No. 330 and No. 437, consumers are divided into five gas shutdown queues, and during a crisis, enterprises are obliged to stop consumption at the first demand of the operator. In these realities, UKRAVTONOMGAZ continues to implement comprehensive LPG-based solutions to protect industry and municipalities.
