NET4GAS Launches Capacity4Gas Pipeline Operation

04.01.2021

NET4GAS is pleased to announce that the company has launched the operation of a new 150-kilometre high-pressure gas pipeline built within the Capacity4Gas project following the issuance of all relevant permits in December 2020. With this important milestone achieved, the second and final phase of the Capacity4Gas project has successfully been completed.

“The greatest thanks belongs to our project teams, headed by Jaroslav Sedlák and Jitka Kafková, and all our employees, as well as our contractors, for their efforts in finalising the project on time, despite the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Andreas Rau, CEO of NET4GAS, and added “With capital expenditure of just over EUR 540 million as at 31 December 2020, Capacity4Gas is the biggest single investment project in the history of our company”.

Further thanks belongs to the suppliers for their professional work, the relevant public authorities for their constructive cooperation, the neighbouring transmission system operators for their coordination efforts, and all other stakeholders for supporting NET4GAS in the project’s implementation.

The new infrastructure built within the Capacity4Gas project strengthens the connection of the Czech Republic and the whole CEE region with the Western European gas hubs, and thus secures access to diversified gas supplies at competitive prices, including access to the planned LNG terminals in Germany. At the same time, the implementation of the project enhances the strategic role of the Czech Republic in international gas transit, also with a view to the possible future transportation of renewable gases, including hydrogen.

The first phase of the Capacity4Gas project included, in particular, the construction of a new compressor station at Otvice, an interconnection with the new German EUGAL gas pipeline near the Hora Svaté Kateřiny border transfer station, and an extension of the Lanžhot metering station at the Czech-Slovak border. All of these assets were put into operation in December 2019.

The implementation of the Capacity4Gas project has had a positive economic impact through major construction activities in the Czech Republic, with the strong involvement of Czech contractors and subcontractors. At the same time, it will have a positive economic impact for the Czech Republic through the subsequent operation of the newly built gas infrastructure.

Capacity4Gas Project at a Glance

6 March 2017	Legally binding bookings of up to approximately 40 bcm/y for the 2020-2039 period obtained at the annual European PRISMA capacity auction
November 2018	Capacity4Gas project construction activity commenced
December 2019	New DN 1400 PN 85 interconnector to the new German EUGAL gas pipeline put into operation
December 2019	New Otvice emission-free electrically-driven compressor station put into operation
2019 / 2020	Existing infrastructure upgraded, including the installation of new modern turbo sets at three compressor stations and the capacity expansion of the Hora Svaté Kateřiny and Lanžhot border transfer stations
1 January 2021	New DN 1400 PN 85 high-pressure gas pipeline put into operation, leading from the newly built Kateřinský potok junction point in the Ústí Region to the modified Přimda junction point in the Plsen Region

Did you know that ...

The maximum annual transport capacity of the new DN 1400 gas pipeline is approximately 27.5 billion cubic meters, which corresponds to almost ninety times the volume of the Lipno reservoir, the largest in the Czech Republic, and three times the total annual gas consumption in the Czech Republic.
The new gas pipeline crosses 353 routes, such as roads, highways, dirt and forest roads,
99 watercourses, i.e. rivers, streams, and other waterways, and a total of 13 railway lines.
The gas pipeline weighs more than 96,000 tons, which represents nine times the weight of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or more than five hundred times the weight of the steel structure of the Petřín Lookout Tower in Prague.
The new Otvice compressor station is equipped with three state-of-the-art emission-free electrically-driven compressors, which are thus environmentally friendly to the maximum extent.
The control system of the new compressor station processes 3,000 sensor signals, measurements and control commands.
The total length of cabling installed within the new compressor station is around 150 kilometres, which is the same length as the new gas pipeline running from Kateřinský potok to Přimda.
The new infrastructure was designed outside built-up areas, for the most part within the protection zones of the existing energy corridors.