OREANDA-NEWS. May 12, 2011. Today in Saint Petersburg Alexander Ananenkov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee held a meeting dedicated to engineering and construction of the Ukhta – Torzhok, Pochinki – Gryazovets, Gryazovets – Vyborg, SRTO – Torzhok gas pipelines and main compressor stations in Northwestern Russia as well as expansion of the Gryazovets gas hub.
Taking part in the meeting were heads and experts from Gazprom’s specialized subdivisions, subsidiaries, engineering and contracting companies.

 The meeting noted that construction of gas transmission capacities in the Northwestern Russia was progressing at full speed.

 The dewatering and vacuum treatment operations in the Gryazovets – Vyborg gas pipeline have been completed and its linear part is ready for operation. The gas pipeline is being expanded by adding loopings to it in a synchronized manner, the commissioning activities continue at the new capacities of the Gryazovetskaya compressor station (CS) as well as the Elizavetinskaya and Babaevskaya CSs.

 179.7 kilometers of the Pochinki – Gryazovets linear part have been welded and trenched since early 2011. Taking into account 300 kilometers built last year, some 74 per cent of the gas pipeline length. Construction and installation activities are underway at the Vyaznikovskaya CS. Two more gas pipeline compressor stations, Ivanovskaya and Lukoyanovskaya, are being commissioned.

 Previously, Alexander Ananenkov and Gazprom's expert group visited the Portovaya CS construction site located on the Baltic Sea coast near Vyborg, Leningrad Oblast.
At present, over 4,300 workers and 366 units of machinery and equipment are engaged in the CS construction. Installation of the main process equipment has been mostly finished at the top-priority compressor capacities: gas compressor units with the total capacity of 210 MW and gas treatment plants. Hydraulic testing is underway to check up the junction point durability.
Installation has been completed and eight out of nine testing stages that precede the commissioning operations have been finalized at the gas treatment facility to feed gas to the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

 Based on the meeting results, specialized subdivisions, subsidiaries and contracting agencies were given the tasks aimed at timely implementation of gas transmission projects in Northwestern Russia.
Background

 Gazprom is taking large-scale efforts to develop the Russian gas transmission system (GTS) and diversifying gas export routes in parallel with building up gas production capacities. In this respect, northwestward expansion of the GTS has a particular significance. It is required for secure gas transmission from the Yamal Peninsula where a new gas production center is emerging as well as for timely delivery of natural gas into the Nord Stream offshore gas pipeline and for increasing the reliability of gas supplies to consumers in Northwestern Russia.

 The work is currently being performed to expand the Gryazovets gas hub which is a crucial component of the Northern gas transmission corridor. The Gryazovets hub will convey gas to the Nord Stream offshore gas pipeline starting from September 2011. The Gryazovetskaya CS is a key facility of the Gryazovets hub. The work is underway to increase the station capacity from 264 to 389 MW.

 Nord Stream will be fed from the Gryazovets – Vyborg gas pipeline. Its length is 900 kilometers and nominal capacity – 55 billion cubic meters of gas. The gas pipeline runs across the Vologda and the Leningrad Oblasts. Domestically manufactured pipes and new generation shutoff valves are used for the linepipe. The pipeline crossings through large watercourses are built using the horizontal directional drilling and microtunneling techniques, which allow avoiding an impact on river ecosystems during the gas pipeline construction and operation process. The gas pipeline will be commissioned in a phased manner starting from 2011. The gas pipeline is to achieve the nominal capacity by late 2012.

 The Pochinki – Gryazovets gas pipeline construction is oriented at raising the UGSS reliability and flexibility in the Northwestern and Central regions. Initially, the pipeline will secure additional gas supplies to the Northwestern region and, inter alia, convey gas to Nord Stream. Further on, with the first natural gas deliveries from Yamal, the pipeline will be switched to reverse flow and gas will be rerouted to the Central region.

 The Pochinki – Gryazovets gas pipeline will run across the Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Yaroslavl and Vologda Oblasts. The 1,420-millimeter pipeline will stretch approximately 650 kilometers and operate at the working pressure of 75 atmospheres. Its full throughput will reach 36 billion cubic meters a year. The pipeline construction began in September 2007.

 The Ukhta – Torzhok gas trunkline system is designed for the Yamal gas delivery to the Central region. It will be 1,300 kilometers long with the annual throughput of 90 billion cubic meters and working pressure of 100 atmospheres.

 The Portovaya CS will ensure gas transmission via Nord Stream. It will be a unique gas transmission facility in terms of aggregate capacity (366 MW), working pressure (220 atmospheres), gas transmission distance (1,200 kilometers) and daily gas dehydration volume (170 million cubic meters). When constructing the station, Gazprom utilizes novel equipment and state-of-the-art technologies.