Specialist equipment donated by Britain’s gas networks has arrived in Ukraine to help repair and replace the country’s gas network infrastructure damaged during Russia’s invasion.
Staff from SGN, which looks after the gas network in Scotland and southern England, have joined teams from Cadent, National Grid Gas Transmission, Northern Gas Networks and Wales & West Utilities to donate the large-scale specialist equipment.
With further support from IGEM, the professional engineering institution for gas, the items were gathered at an operational site in the East Midlands before being shipped to where they are desperately needed in Ukraine.
The consignment contained 38 pallets of goods and equipment compatible with Ukraine’s existing infrastructure and was arranged with engagement help from the Polish Government’s Strategic Reserve Agency ‘Help Ukraine’ scheme and the European Energy Community‘s Ukraine Support Task Force.
Jeremy Deveney, Head of Network Asset Management (Transmission) at SGN, said: “Our people have been shocked and saddened by recent events in Ukraine, and were motivated to help Ukrainian citizens and our counterparts in the Ukrainian energy sector, using our specialist expertise.
“Alongside the terrible human toll, the war has caused immense damage to Ukrainian energy infrastructure and has seriously disrupted the provision of warmth and energy to their citizens. We hope that our action in gathering equipment over the past few weeks can restore to civilians some of the infrastructure required to restore warmth and power, and we will continue to offer our skills and knowledge however we can.”