Offshore staff
ZUG, Switzerland – The Nord Streamgas pipeline project in the Baltic Sea is entering an intensive period of activity.
Laying of the second of the twin offshore 1,224-km (760-mi) pipelines is close to completion, and the three sections will be joined underwater off the Finnish coast in mid-May and off the Swedish coast in early June.
The two-week process of adapting, testing, and certifying the control systems to integrate the two pipelines into a single automated gas transport system should have started.
This requires the valves at the Russian and German landfalls to be shut, gas from thePortovaya compressor station to be stopped, and the flow of gas through the pipeline to be temporarily halted. After the tests have been completed and certifications received, the valves should be re-opened by end-April.
During the summer, pre-commissioning and commissioning of the second pipeline will follow. It is on schedule to become operational toward the end of the year.
When completed, the integrated pipeline system will be capable of transporting up to 55 bcm/yr (1.9 tcf/yr) of gas from northern Russian fields to Europe.
4/16/2012
