OPAL (pipeline)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
OPAL
Infobox of the OPAL with pipe in Lubmin

The OPAL ( O stsee- P ipeline- A nbindungs l ine) is a pipeline (DN 1400) for transporting natural gas from Lubmin in northeastern Mecklenburg-Vorpommerns south through the states of Brandenburg and Saxony . It connects the Baltic Sea pipeline with the German-Czech border at the end point at Olbernhau / Brandov (CZ). At Olbernhau (or Sayda ) there is a connection to the Transgas pipeline , which comes from Ukraine via the Czech Republic , as well as to STEGAL to Saxony and Thuringia, which in turn has connections to MIDAL and JAGAL . The first gas flowed through the pipeline in August 2011, the construction costs of which were around one billion euros.

The OPAL is one of two pipelines that connect the Nord Stream Baltic Sea pipeline in Germany to the existing European natural gas pipeline network. The other is the North European Natural Gas Pipeline ( NEL ) leading to Hamburg .

Shareholder and operator

Starting point of OPAL and NEL near Lubmin

Shareholders at the OPAL are the W & G Transport Holding GmbH (an indirect subsidiary of Wintershall Holding GmbH and the Russian PAO GAZPROM ) with 80% and to Uniper belonging Lubmin-Brandov Gas Transport GmbH at 20%. The marketing of the natural gas and the operation of the pipeline will be divided between the operating companies OPAL Gastransporte GmbH & Co. KG and Lubmin-Brandov-Gastransport GmbH according to the shares .

OPAL pipeline route near Steinfurth (Western Pomerania) prepared for archeology

In February 2009, the Federal Network Agency granted the operators extensive exemption from regulating network access and charges from the start of operation. The approval is based on Section 28a EnWG , which, under certain conditions, allows the regulatory authority to exempt connecting lines between Germany and other countries (here the Czech Republic) from regulation.

OPAL intermediate pipe storage facility near Groß Bünzow (Western Pomerania)

Key figures

The 473-kilometer pipeline was made of 26,000, 18-meter-long, 22.3-millimeter-thick, 15-tonne individual pipes with a diameter of 1.4 meters, welded together and laid in a trench with a one-meter depth of earth. The pipes were manufactured by EUROPIPE in Mülheim an der Ruhr .

The pressure in the natural gas pipeline is up to 100 bar. To compensate for the pressure drop , the Radeland compressor station with an output of 99.1 megawatts was built halfway near the Radeland district of the municipality of Baruth / Mark . This is also where the JAGAL cruises .

The pipeline's transport capacity is 36½ billion cubic meters per year, which could cover a third of Germany's current natural gas requirements.

The pipeline is around 470 kilometers long, 270 kilometers through Brandenburg and 100 kilometers each through Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony. Crossing the Peene , Spree and Elbe rivers are particular technical challenges .

Planning process and construction

Laying work for the OPAL near Oderberg

The rough routing of the pipeline was initially determined in a regional planning procedure (ROV). It was checked whether the project is compatible with the objectives of regional planning and regional planning (e.g. in ecological terms). In southern Brandenburg, concerns about a planned compressor station in Groß Köris have led to the route and the compressor station being relocated to the south. The ROV in Brandenburg was thus completed in March 2009. The ROV was followed by the planning approval procedure , which precisely defined the route. It ended with the planning approval decision, which was concluded for the state of Brandenburg at the end of 2009 (northern part) and early 2010 (southern part).

Construction of the pipeline began in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony in October 2009 and in Brandenburg in April 2010. The laying work for the pipes was completed in April 2011. On July 13, 2011, the last individual pipes were welded in the Radeland compressor station and the line was then subjected to a complete inspection. On August 6, 2011, natural gas was transported from Vyborg, Russia, to Lubmin for the first time .

Transport logistics

Storage space for approx. 600 large pipes near Baruth

The large pipes were dispatched from the manufacturing plant in the Ruhr area in block trains to the corresponding unloading stations in Eastern Germany. They consisted of up to 27 flat cars , each loaded with three large pipes. At a final station were loaded truck crane , the tubes individually on articulated lorries . These took them to camp sites that were about ten kilometers apart. This ensured that once the project had been approved, construction of the pipeline could begin quickly.

Excavations

With the construction of the pipeline, archaeologists had the opportunity to carry out excavations across Western Pomerania. The State Office for Culture and the Preservation of Monuments in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania examined the route and was able to discover settlement areas , burial grounds and treasures from all eras. The most important pieces are exhibited in a special exhibition at the Pomeranian State Museum in Greifswald . This includes a very rare gold coin that dates from the time between the departure of the Teutons and the settlement of the country by the Slavs . It was found near the village of Gustebin and will be on the 6./7. Dated century. The 1200 year old silver hoard from Anklam is also on display.

EUGAL

Construction site of the EUGAL pipeline near Neuhausen in the Ore Mountains

Largely parallel to the route of the OPAL pipeline, the 480 km long European gas connection line (EUGAL) was built in 2019 from Lubmin on the Baltic Sea coast to Deutschneudorf in Saxony and from there to the Czech Republic . In addition to Gascade Gastransport GmbH (project sponsor) with 50.5%, Fluxys Deutschland GmbH , Gasunie Deutschland Transport Services GmbH and Ontras Gastransport GmbH each have a 16.5% share in this line. Almost the entire route consists of two strands with an outer diameter of 1420 mm. The first EUGAL line has been in operation since January 1, 2020. The gas to be transported will mainly be natural gas from Russia arriving in Lubmin via the Nord Stream pipeline . Since the Nord Stream 2 pipeline has not yet been completed due to US sanctions, gas will initially also be fed in from the Northern European Natural Gas Pipeline (NEL). The second EUGAL line should be completed in 2021.

Web links

Commons : OPAL  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : EUGAL  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d The Opal natural gas pipeline is officially completed. In: Lausitzer Rundschau . GvH, July 13, 2011, accessed on July 13, 2011 .
  2. ↑ a b Jürgen Flauger and Klaus Stratmann: Festival for the Baltic Sea Pipeline In: Handelsblatt of September 7, 2011, page 14.
  3. ↑ See WINGAS GmbH & Co. KG, project participants. Retrieved August 2, 2009 .
  4. ↑ Gas supply - partial exception for OPAL. Federal Network Agency grants partial exemption for OPAL. February 25, 2009, accessed September 13, 2019 .
  5. ↑ OPAL - the largest natural gas pipeline in Northwest Europe. Network information for gas pipelines in accordance with Section 27 (2) GasNEV for the year 2016. OPAL gas transport, 2016, accessed on January 2, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Radeland compressor station. Retrieved January 2, 2018 .
  7. ↑ List of Assets 2016. Uniper , December 2016, p. 41 , accessed on March 18, 2017 .
  8. ↑ See WINGAS GmbH & Co. KG, OPAL in figures. Retrieved April 27, 2009 .
  9. ↑ See Land Brandenburg, Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Planning, "Regional planning procedure" Natural gas pipeline OPAL, section Brandenburg Süd "is completed"; Press release no: 021/2009. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved April 27, 2009 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.mir.brandenburg.de  
  10. ↑ Gas pipeline from the Baltic Sea to the Czech Republic almost finished. In: Saxon newspaper . DD + V, July 13, 2011, accessed on July 13, 2011 .
  11. ↑ See IPG Infrastruktur- und Projektentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, "GVZ Berlin Ost Freienbrink as an important transfer point". (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 6, 2010 ; Retrieved December 20, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ipg-potsdam.de
  12. ↑ VorpommernMagazin, February 2011, page 17
  13. ↑ Still very fresh: Early medieval silver hoard find. Find of the month October 2010. (No longer available online.) State Office for Culture and Monument Preservation Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, archived from the original on December 14, 2013 ; Retrieved December 15, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kulturwerte-mv.de
  14. ↑ EUGAL - For a secure natural gas supply in Europe. In: eugal.de. Gascade, accessed November 12, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Gascade signs participation agreement in EUGAL with three German network operators. Gascade press release of October 18, 2017, accessed on November 7, 2017
  16. ↑ EUROPIPE supplies 635,000 tons of large-diameter pipes for the EUGAL pipeline. europipe.com, April 3, 2017, accessed May 15, 2019