Source: Energy & Management Powernews, August 22, 2022
Green light for the construction of the pipeline that will connect the floating LNG terminal planned in Wilhelmshaven to the gas grid.
The State Office for Mining and Geology (LBEG) in Hanover, Lower Saxony, has issued the planning approval decision for the construction of a 26-kilometer natural gas pipeline. It will connect the liquefied natural gas terminal planned in Wilhelmshaven with the gas transmission network at the Etzel storage site in the East Frisian municipality of Friedeburg.
Particularly time-critical construction sections had already been approved in advance, and preparatory construction work has already begun. Production of the high-pressure steel pipes at the Mannesmann company is also already underway. According to the transmission system operator Open Grid Europe (OGE), which is investing around 150 million euros in the project, around 800 workers will ensure that the LNG terminal can feed gas into the German grid this winter.
"I am pleased that we were able to complete this procedure quickly and effectively in less than four months," said LBEG President Carsten Mühlenmeier. He added that the procedure could serve as a benchmark for the speedy restructuring of Germany's energy infrastructure. Normally, such an approval process takes several years.
Another pipeline docking with the OGE project is planned by Oldenburg-based energy supplier EWE. It also wants to connect its cavern storage facilities Nüttermoor / Jemgum and Huntorf. This pipeline is 70 kilometers long and is scheduled to go into operation by the end of 2023. As reported, the green light has already been given by the German Federal Network Agency here, too. This means that the pipes can also already be ordered and construction work can start at the beginning of the year. According to EWE, the pipeline has a capacity of 800,000 m³ per hour.
Initially, the Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal is to have an annual capacity of up to 10 billion m3. With further expansion of the gas network in the hinterland, up to 28 bcm is possible in the medium term, according to OGE.
Author: Günter Drewnitzky
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