EUGAL: Full capacities available

Pipeline can now transport up to 55 billion m³ of natural gas per year / Both strings and compressor station are operational

Kassel. After just over two and half years of construction, the European gas pipeline link EUGAL has now reached its full transport capacity with two strings and a compressor station. The first string has already been transporting natural gas since 1 January 2020. The second string and the compressor station went into operation today and expand the transport capacity to up to 55 billion m³ of natural gas per year.

EUGAL is a joint project between the transmission system operators GASCADE Gastransport GmbH, Gasunie Deutschland Transport Services GmbH, Fluxys Deutschland GmbH and ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH.

“We are proud to have successfully completed this project. EUGAL is an important component in Europe's energy supply,” explains Christoph von dem Bussche, Managing Director of GASCADE. Managing Director Igor Uspenskiy goes on to say: “The pipeline now has a transport capacity of up to 55 billion m³ of natural gas per year. By comparison: Germany annually consumes more than 80 billion m³ of natural gas.”

Jens Schumann, Managing Director of Gasunie Deutschland, adds: “EUGAL now secures Europe’s supply of natural gas and can be an essential element in a European hydrogen network in the future.”

“Less than one and half years elapsed from the first planning approval going into effect to the completion of the first string of EUGAL. This extremely short implementation period, which was achieved in compliance with environmental and industrial safety standards, was positively breathtaking,” said Friedrich Rosenstock, Managing Director of Fluxys Deutschland.

Ralph Bahke, Managing Director of ONTRAS, sums things up: “Successfully realizing a mammoth project like EUGAL in this day and age was by no means a matter of course. I am pleased that we were able to contribute our part – together with the other partners in the consortium. A valuable part of gas infrastructure has been created with this important link, and it will also be of national importance for gas transport in the future.”

EUGAL runs over a length of around 480 kilometers from Lubmin on the Baltic Sea to Deutschneudorf on the German-Czech border. Around 46,000 pipes were installed overall for EUGAL – each of the pipes is around 18 meters long and weighs 15 tonnes. The pipeline measures 1.40 meters in diameter. More than 2,500 people worked at peak construction times on the route.

The fully regulated EUGAL pipeline is integrated into the German and European gas network. Thanks to its connection to the existing gas pipelines NEL, FGL306 and JAGAL, EUGAL will be able to flexibly transport gas in every direction.

More information on the EUGAL project can be found at www.eugal.de.

 

GASCADE is implementing the EUGAL pipeline project together with the transmission system operators Fluxys Deutschland GmbH, Gasunie Deutschland Transport Services GmbH and Ontras Gastransport GmbH.

GASCADE Gastransport GmbH operates a gas pipeline network covering the whole of Germany. The network company offers its customers cutting-edge, competitive transport services over its own long-distance high-pressure pipeline network of more than 2,900 kilometers in length in the heart of Europe.

The transmission system operator Fluxys Deutschland GmbH markets roughly 24% of NEL’s system capacity. Fluxys also participates in the TENP pipeline system through its sister company Fluxys TENP GmbH and markets approximately 64% of TENP’s transport capacities. Fluxys Deutschland is part of Belgium’s Fluxys Group, which operates not only the Belgian transport system, but also a storage facility and the LNG terminal in Zeebrügge. With its numerous participating interests in existing European gas infrastructure companies and projects, the Fluxys Group pursues the goal of increasing supply security and market liquidity in Europe by simplifying international gas transport.

Gasunie Deutschland Transport Services is responsible for management, operation and expansion of an extensive pipeline network in Northern Germany. Given its geographical location, Gasunie’s pipeline network in the Netherlands and in Germany, which measures over 16,000 kilometers in total, has become a gas hub for Northwest Europe. Gasunie Deutschland is a subsidiary of N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie. As a key component of the Northern German natural gas network, the transport facilities of Gasunie make a major contribution to ensuring a secure supply of natural gas in Germany and Europe.

ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH is a national transmission system operator within the European gas transport system. In order to ensure smooth and reliable gas transport for its customers, ONTRAS operates Germany's second longest gas network with around 7,500 kilometers of pipelines and around 450 network coupling points. A reliable partner, the company represents the interests of transport customers, dealers, regional transmission system operators and producers of regenerative gases.