First testing on new German gas pipeline Zeelink set for November: developer - S&P Global

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Highlights

Start up of pipeline expected in March 2021

No change to timetable despite coronavirus

Compressor station at Wurselen on 'home stretch'

London — Testing on the Zeelink gas pipeline designed to connect consumers in northwestern Germany directly to the Zeebrugge LNG terminal via the Belgian grid is likely to take place in November, a spokesman for project partner Open Grid Europe said Oct. 6.

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Zeelink -- being developed by a joint venture of Open Grid Europe and fellow German TSO Thyssengas -- is designed to bring high-calorific gas (H-gas) to German consumers who are traditionally buyers of low-calorific gas (L-gas) from the giant Groningen gas field in the Netherlands.

Construction of the Eur600 million pipeline -- with a capacity of 26.4 million cu m/d or 9.6 Bcm/year -- began in April 2019 and is on schedule to begin operations in March next year.

"Construction work on Zeelink is still on time -- there was no impact on construction due to the pandemic," the spokesman said.

"First gas for testing reasons will run probably in November this year," he said, adding that work on the compressor station in Wurselen was "on the home stretch."

Zeelink is scheduled to start operations well over a year before the Groningen field is due to shut down in mid-2022.

Germany as a whole has gas demand of some 90 Bcm/year and the west and northwestern parts of the country are major industrial gas consumers.

Zeelink, whose capacity will enable it to cover demand in northwest Germany ordinarily covered by Groningen gas, was conceived despite Germany also having plans for three LNG terminals on its northern coast.

It will run from near Aachen on the border with Belgium northeast toward Dusseldorf, before turning north past Krefeld and Duisberg, ending just north of Coesfeld.

Qatar capacity

The construction of Zeelink comes as Qatar has signed up to take all the capacity at the 9 Bcm/year Zeebrugge LNG terminal, securing long-term entry capacity for its LNG into the European gas market.

Qatar Petroleum signed the deal in September 2019 to take full capacity at the terminal from the expiry of the existing long-term unloading contracts and up to 2044.

The existing capacity contracts at Zeebrugge begin to expire from 2023 until around 2028.

Qatar Petroleum already had 50% of the regasification capacity at Zeebrugge, but with the deal with Belgian grid operator Fluxys, it will control all of the capacity.

Locking down the capacity at Zeebrugge comes as Qatar Petroleum plans to raise the country's LNG production capacity to 126 million mt/year from 77 million mt/year with the construction of new mega-trains.

Qatar Petroleum already has long-term capacity bookings for its LNG supplies to the UK at South Hook and Italy at Adriatic LNG.

It also agreed in February this year to book 4.2 Bcm/year of capacity at the 10 Bcm/year capacity Montoir LNG import facility in western France.

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First testing on new German gas pipeline Zeelink set for November: developer - S&P Global
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