Reaching for European energy security: Part 2

Johan Desaegher, Belgium, and Mike Kirkwood, T.D. Williamson, UAE, discuss the European drive toward greater energy security and the solutions that will help the realisation of this goal.

The bi-directional pipeline solution

Although Poland produces about one-third of its domestic natural gas, two-thirds of the country’s demand is met through imports from Russia, Germany and the Czech Republic. The independent news organisation Natural Gas Europe says that, historically, the lion’s share of Poland’s natural gas imports – about 80% – has come from Russia via the 56 in. Yamal pipeline, which terminates in Germany. In 2012, the Yamal delivered 9 billion m3 of Russian natural gas to Poland, according to BP’s annual statistical review.

Following Russia’s cessation of gas exports in 2009, GAZ-SYSTEM began work to enable reverse transmission services on a permanent basis on the Yamal where it links Poland’s network to the German natural gas system. In case of a disruption of the supply of gas from Russia, GAZ-SYSTEM will be able to reverse the pipeline, allowing Germany to transport its product to Poland’s consumers.

The physical flow opened in April of this year. It allows for reverse flow capacity of up to 2.3 billion m³ annually, with the potential to rise to 5.5 billion m³ in case of supply disruption. 

Over the course of a year, the Warsaw office of pipeline services provider T.D. Williamson (TDW) was contracted to perform an interconnected series of integrity-building activities that included:

• Conducting a multifaceted feasibility study.
• Preparing a plan for cleaning and inspection.
• Using hot tapping and plugging capabilities to replace pipe sections.
• Inspecting the pipeline using intelligent inline inspection tools.
• Preparing a pipeline maintenance pump.
• Reinforcing areas that displayed external corrosion.
• Hydrotesting the line.

Of course, the ultimate test of the reversible link with Germany will come if and when Russia halts natural gas deliveries to its neighbours to the west.

NAM: a way to get through wax

While Poland continues to extricate itself from a sticky geopolitical situation with its primary natural gas supplier, a major natural gas supplier in the Netherlands is working on pipeline integrity and flow assurance, key objectives essential to global energy security.

Not only does the Netherlands contain the giant Groningen gas field, the largest natural gas field in Europe, the country is a key European hub for liquid fuels transportation and processing. It is also one of the largest importers and exporters of crude oil and petroleum products. As such, keeping its pipelines flowing is a priority for both the nation and the Dutch exploration company NAM.

Recently, NAM, a joint venture between Shell and ExxonMobil, needed to simplify the above ground connection of two urban exploration and treatment facilities to the Shell Pernis refinery near Rotterdam. With a capacity of about 400 000 billion bpd, Shell Pernis is Europe’s largest refining facility.

The NAM project called for abandoning and replacing the above-ground scraper situated between the production facilities and the refinery with an underground piggable Y piece that could withstand pressures up to 95 bar (1377.9 psi), then using pigs to clean the lines. Adding to the challenge was the fact that the pipelines feeding into the scraper were different diameters. Because the line originating at the measuring station was 8 in., and the line coming from the gas station was 10 in., dual-diameter pigging capabilities were required.

After the initial cleaning pass, NAM engineers realised there was more wax in the pipeline than had been originally anticipated and they needed an even better way to power through the deposits. The answer came in the form of the PitBoss™ pig from TDW, a thorough cleaning tool that comes equipped with spring-loaded wire scrapers.

Will US natural gas help the EU’s woes

New connections and expanded infrastructure does not change the fact that the EU lacks the fossil fuel resources to meet all of its needs. 

The US is no stranger to the predicament Europe faces: As recently as 2007, American natural gas supplies were dwindling to the point that the Bush administration considered importing supplies from less stable markets. The US does not export its natural gas yet, but the Energy Department has begun issuing export permits to American companies, and there are some natural gas export terminals already in the early phases of construction.

In the meantime, European countries will continue driving toward greater energy security. Operators will keep building new pipelines and repurposing existing ones. And service providers will supply the advanced, comprehensive integrity solutions that will help Europe to more quickly and confidently reach its goals.

Written by Johan Desaegher, Belgium, and Mike Kirkwood, T.D. Williamson, UAE, and  edited by Hannah Priestley-Eaton

To read the full version of this article, please download a copy of the December 2014 issue of World Pipelines.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/10032015/reaching-for-european-energy-security-part-2/