The formation of the modern Ukrainian natural gas market is accompanied by profound transformations of the national gas infrastructure: the creation and operation of new market operators, the redistribution of infrastructure facilities, the development and implementation of new requirements for the effective functioning of the entire system. At the same time, this requires from all parties a verified and balances strategy for the optimal implementation of all the obligations that Ukraine has undertaken to fully implement the requirements of the EU Third Energy Package, which aims to create an effective natural gas market based on the principles of free competition, proper consumer protection and security of supply. Despite the fact that the capacity of the Ukrainian gas transmission system and gas storages is one of the largest in Europe, the unbanding process has caused a number of threats in the area of regulatory support for production activities, requiring the consolidation of specialists' efforts to form optimal solutions to the problems that have arisen. In addition, the lengthy process of reforming and reorganizing the Ukrainian gas distribution system has led to a situation where the work of a natural gas distribution operator is facing a risk of imbalance in terms of inefficient standardization of the main areas of operation to meet the EU legislation requirements implemented in Ukraine. Therefore, to develop basic directions for the future work of gas infrastructure operators, it is necessary to take into account the acting capabilities of existing system for transportation, underground storage and gas distribution (taking into account the significant number of standardized indicators defined by the existing normative documents of the former USSR) and in accordance with the trends in the development of the European gas infrastructure introduce economically and technically feasible measures to standardize performance activities. Such works have to be incorporated into integrated research programs, during which regional and international trends are to be taken into account and adapted, the results of which will be the basis for future roadmaps and programs for the development of natural gas supply and distribution systems.
Optimal Expansion Co-Planning of Reconfigurable Electricity and Natural Gas Distribution Systems Incorporating Energy Hubs
