News
Feb 3, 2009
Regional planning procedure for OPAL natural gas pipeline in northern Brandenburg complete
European natural gas infrastructure project makes further progress / forsa survey: three-quarters of residents in favour of the OPAL
Potsdam / Kassel. The Brandenburg State Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Planning has now (3rd February 2009) approved the regional planning procedure for the 148-kilometer-long route corridor in the administrative districts of Uckermark, Barnim, Märkisch-Oderland and Oder-Spree. “The results of the regional planning procedure show that the main corridor submitted for examination as well as the alternative sections are compatible with regional planning requirements assuming implementation of the stipulations specified”, the Ministry declared. The completion of the regional planning procedure for the southern part of the state up to the border with Saxony is expected in the spring. In planning terms, all indications are that the route alternative with a compressor site in Radeland in the Baruth area (Teltow-Fläming administrative district) can be deemed spatially acceptable. The regional planning procedure is the decision-making basis for the subsequent planning approval process. The OPAL pipeline will connect the Nord Stream Baltic sea pipeline with the European natural gas pipeline network. The planned route of the OPAL pipeline starts in Lubmin near Greifswald and covers approximately 470 kilometres through Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Saxony up to the German-Czech border.
“With the completion of the regional planning procedure in the northern part of Brandenburg we have reached another important milestone on the way to realizing the entire Nord Stream project”, Ingo Neubert, Managing Director of OPAL NEL TRANSPORT GmbH, explained. OPAL NEL TRANSPORT GmbH is one of the planned operators of the two Nord Stream connecting pipelines, the OPAL und NEL (NEL: Norddeutsche Erdgas-Leitung – Northern German Gas Link). “Europe is increasingly dependent on natural gas imports to secure the energy supply. This energy infrastructure project can make a key contribution to transporting the natural gas to Europe.” The OPAL pipeline will transport natural gas to the south, while the approximately 440-kilometer-long NEL will run as far as Rehden in Lower Saxony. The construction of the OPAL alone involves investments sums of around one billion euros – and will be realized in a co-ownership association between WINGAS and E.ON Ruhrgas. “This approximately 470-kilometer-long construction project will not only bring fresh momentum to the federal states directly affected, it will also benefit the entire German economy. Especially in these financially difficult times, investments like this can make a vital contribution to overcoming the emerging economic crisis”, Mr Neubert explained
The construction of the OPAL can begin this year. With the regional planning procedures in the states Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony complete, the planning approval processes in these states are now underway. These processes are expected to be concluded in the first few months of 2009. In Brandenburg the planning approval process will commence swiftly once the regional planning procedure has been completed. In Brandenburg the planned OPAL pipeline will run from the border of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania between Pasewalk (Uecker-Randow district) and Prenzlau (Uckermark district) to the border of Saxony near Ortrand in the Ober¬spreewald-Lausitz district, a distance of about 270 kilometres. The project will be subject to an environmental impact assessment as well as a spatial impact assessment as part of the regional planning procedure. The Brandenburg State Office for Mining, Geology and Raw Materials will conduct the planning approval process for the natural gas pipeline after the regional planning procedure has been completed.
forsa survey: majority in favour of building the OPAL
A clear majority (73 percent) of citizens in the three federal states that the new OPAL natural gas pipeline will go through, i.e. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Saxony, is in favour of the construction of the pipeline according to a representative survey carried out by the Berlin research institute forsa. The survey interviewed more than 1000 residents from 12 districts near the planned route corridor of the OPAL. The positive attitude towards the OPAL was held by a similar proportion of those interviewed in all three federal states. 72 percent of citizens affected in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania welcome the OPAL on account of its positive contribution to supply security. The figure was similar in Saxony (73 percent) and a clear majority (65 percent) in Brandenburg also shares this view. The majority of citizens in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (56 percent) and Brandenburg (56 percent) hope that their states will profit from the OPAL, and this figure is even higher in Saxony (67 percent). An encouraging 58 percent in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania firmly believe that the OPAL will improve the energy supply in their federal state (Saxony: 66 percent, Brandenburg: 61 percent).
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