OREANDA-NEWS. September 28, 2011. Saint Petersburghosted today a meeting moderated by Alexander Ananenkov, Deputy Chairman of the Company's Management Committee. The meeting was dedicated to the issues of designing and constructing in Northwestern Russia the Ukhta – Torzhok, Pochinki – Gryazovets, Gryazovets – Vyborg, SRTO – Torzhok gas pipelines, line compressor stations and expanding the Gryazovets gas transmission hub.
Taking part in the meeting were heads and experts of Gazprom's specialized structural units and subsidiary companies as well as design and contracting organizations.

The meeting noted high intensity of work for gas transmission capacities expansion in Northwestern Russia.

So, the line part of the Pochinki – Gryazovets gas pipeline was completely welded and trenched, eight of ten parts were hydro-tested. Pre-commissioning of the Lukoyanovskaya and Ivanovskaya compressor stations (CS) is underway. Four gas compressor units with the total capacity of 64 MW are being installed at the Vyaznikovskaya CS.

The line part looping system is under construction at the Gryazovets – Vyborg gas pipeline. The Volkhovskaya, Elizavetinskaya and Babaevskaya CSs forming the gas pipeline system are being pre-commissioned.

The Sindorskaya, Urdomskaya, Nyuksenitskaya CSs of the SRTO – Torzhok gas main are being constructed.

Scheduled operations were completed to increase the capacity of the Gryazovetskaya CS, a key facility of the Gryazovets gas transmission hub, by 47.3 per cent from 264 MW to 389 MW. Complex and obligatory testing of the station's newly built facilities was carried out. New CS capacities are ready for operation.

On the previous day the group of Gazprom's experts led by Alexander Ananenkov visited the Portovaya CS construction site – the starting point of the Nord Stream pipeline. So far, a gas treatment unit has been built at the station to feed the pipeline with gas. Pre-commissioning of the gas compressor unit with the total capacity of 210 MW has been started. The gas treatment unit is being hydro-tested.
Gazprom's experts also examined the gas treatment unit helping to feed the first string of Nord Stream with process gas. It was highlighted that the gas treatment unit was operating in a routine mode and the gas pipeline would be filled with gas on schedule.
“Construction and preparation for routine operation of all the facilities necessary for injection of marketable gas volumes into Nord Stream are in the home stretch,” said Alexander Ananenkov summing up the work of Gazprom's experts.
Finally, specialized structural units, subsidiaries and contracting organizations were given tasks to meet the deadline while implementing projects in Northwestern Russia.
Background

Gazprom is taking large-scale efforts to develop the Russian gas transmission system (GTS) and diversify 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 YamalPeninsula where a new gas production center is emerging as well as for timely delivery of natural gas into the Nord Stream 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 transmission hub which is a crucial component of the Northern gas transmission corridor. The Gryazovets hub conveys gas to the Nord Stream gas pipeline. The Gryazovetskaya CS with the capacity of 389 MW is a key facility of the Gryazovets hub.

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 watercourses are built using the horizontal directional drilling and microtunneling techniques, which allowed avoiding an impact on river ecosystems during the gas pipeline construction and operation process. The gas pipeline will be commissioned in a stagewise manner starting from 2011. At the moment, the line part of the gas pipeline (900 kilometers) was finished. The 700-kilometer looping system is being built. 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 Russia's Northwestern and Central regions. At the first stage the pipeline will secure additional gas supplies to the Northwestern region and, inter alia, convey gas to the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Further on, with the first natural gas deliveries from Yamal, the gas 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 Ata. Its nominal capacity will reach 36 billion cubic meters a year. The gas pipeline construction was launched 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 the working pressure of 100 Ata.

On September 6, 2011 Gazprom started gas injection into the first string of the Nord Stream gas pipeline. The feeding is a necessary final-stage process that precedes commissioning of the first string of the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Natural gas will be fed by a special gas treatment unit.

The Portovaya CS is a unique gas transmission facility in terms of aggregate capacity (366 MW), working pressure (220 Ata), gas transmission distance (1,200 kilometers). In the course of the station construction Gazprom utilizes novel equipment and cutting-edge technologies.