January 2021, Vol. 248, No. 1
Projects
Open Grid Europe Looks to Operate Gas Pipeline in March
Open Grid Europe is testing the recently completed $705 million (600 million euro) Zeelink gas pipeline with plans to make it operational, possibly as early as March 2021.
The 134-mile (215-km) pipeline is the joint effort of Open Grid Europe GmbH, which handled the planning and construction of the pipeline, and Thyssengas mbH.
The 932-MMcf/d (26.4-MMcm/d) pipeline begins at the Belgian-German border at Lichtenbusch, near Aachen, and ends at the North Rhine-Westphalia town of Legden. The project includes a compressor station located at Würselen in Aachen.
On completion, the pipeline will give parts of northwest Germany direct access to the Zeebrugge liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Belgium.
This project is part of Germany’s efforts to convert the northern German gas grid from low-calorific gas, sourced from the soon-to-close massive Groningen gas field in Holland, to high-calorific gas, which is imported from Qatar, the United States and Nigeria.
Interestingly, this pipeline was planned and constructed despite Germany’s long-term plans to construct its own LNG import terminals along the North Sea coast.
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