(pressebox) Essen, 17.06.2011 – Acting as „entry point“ for Russian gas, the Waidhaus compressor station supplies gas to Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and via Belgium to the UK. To safeguard these supplies and the site on a long-term basis, MEGAL – a joint venture of Open Grid Europe GmbH and GDF SUEZ Energie Deutschland AG – is investing approx. € 120 million in modernising the station.
As a first step, a gas turbine-driven compressor unit is currently being replaced by a new unit. Fitted with a 30,000 PS turbine, it ensures that over 3 million m3 of gas can pass through the Waidhaus station every hour. Together with the neighbouring facility owned by Open Grid Europe, this makes for a total of up to 4.6 million m3 per hour.
Start-up of the new compressor unit is scheduled for early December 2011. Three more similar compressor units will be replaced by 2015.
„With this step MEGAL is making an important contribution towards the further development of the European gas pipeline system,“ said MEGAL Managing Director Hans Jürgen Plattner.
Background information
The MEGAL station in Waidhaus was built in 1982. Together with the Open Grid Europe compressor station it supplies gas not only to Germany but also to France, Italy, Switzerland and via Belgium to the UK. In Waidhaus a total of three Open Grid Europe and six MEGAL compressor units are in operation. The two stations transport approx. 33 billion m3 of gas annually, which enables some 27 million homes to be supplied. Russian gas takes about ten
days to cover the roughly 6,000 km to Waidhaus.