Questions & answers
General
Everything you need to know about the OPAL: why it is being built and the importance of natural gas for the supply security of Germany and Europe.
Why is the OPAL being built?
While demand for gas in Europe is rising, a trend set to continue long-term, production in Europe is falling. As a result, new infrastructure needs to be built – such as the NORD STREAM natural gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea – or existing infrastructure has to be expanded in order to import more gas to Europe. The NORD STREAM pipeline will stretch over 1,220 kilometers from the Russian town of Vyborg through the Baltic Sea to Lubmin near Greifswald. The first NORD STREAM pipeline was completed in spring 2011 and, following a test phase, will be brought on stream in late 2011 with a transport capacity of about 27.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. In the second phase of the project, a parallel pipeline will be laid to double the annual transport capacity to around 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. The second pipeline is due to come on stream in 2012.
The aim of the OPAL (Ostsee-Pipeline-Anbindungs-Leitung – Baltic Sea Pipeline Link) is to transport the gas arriving through the Baltic Sea pipeline to the customers. The planned Baltic Sea Pipeline Link (OPAL) will be realized in a co-ownership association between WINGAS (80 %) and E.ON Ruhrgas (20 %). The OPAL will link up the NORD STREAM offshore pipeline, which comes on land near Greifswald, with the existing natural gas pipeline networks, especially in the Czech Republic.
In addition to the OPAL, the NEL (Nordeuropäische Erdgas-Leitung – North European Gas Pipeline, WINGAS 75 % / E.ON Ruhrgas 25 %) will transport natural gas from the NORD STREAM pipeline to the West. The future network operators of the OPAL and the NEL are OPAL NEL TRANSPORT GmbH (ONTG) and E.ON Ruhrgas Nord Stream Anbindungsleitungs GmbH (ERNA), which will operate the pipeline together according to their respective shares in the joint ownership agreement.
What are the dimensions of the OPAL project?
Within the overall NORD STREAM project, the planned onshore transport system in Germany is the last piece in a continuous gas supply chain that stretches from Russia to the national gas markets in Europe. It complements the existing infrastructure, which needs to be expanded in order to meet demand in the European Union. The completion of this project is indispensable in the opinion of the European Commission. The Northern European Gas Pipeline (NEL) and the Baltic Sea Pipeline Link (OPAL) in particular will make a vital contribution to long-term supply security and to strengthening Germany’s role as a European transport hub for natural gas. At the same time, the OPAL is a sensible and efficient way of linking up the existing long-distance gas transport systems, which will enhance supply security in Germany and the European Union.
With a transport capacity of more than 35 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year and a pipeline diameter of 1.4 meters, the OPAL is one of the largest pipeline projects in Germany.
With gas prices rising sharply and the increasing diversification by means of other energy sources, why do major new pipeline capacities like this have to be built at all?
Additional quantities of gas, and hence transport capacities, are needed to meet the growing demand for imports in Germany and Europe. As well as a rise in demand for natural gas, a decrease in production from existing fields in the EU countries that produce gas – especially in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany – is expected. It is not anticipated that significant new discoveries of natural gas within the EU will be made. Furthermore, the reserves in Europe, which account for about 3 % of the world’s natural gas deposits, are relatively small and production is expected to fall constantly from 2010. This difference between natural gas consumption and natural gas production creates the need for gas imports. According to estimates by the European Commission (see Energy and Transport – Trends to 2030, update 2007), the demand for natural gas in Europe alone is set to rise from about 550 billion cubic meters (2006) to over 600 billion cubic meters by 2015.
Why is natural gas considered the primary energy source of the future?
Natural gas is considered a safe and environmentally friendly alternative to other fossil fuels. Demand for natural gas has increased more sharply than for all the other energy sources in Germany and the EU in the last 25 years. Because it is a fossil fuel with extensive reserves and the lowest emissions during combustion, natural gas is expected to have the highest growth in Germany and the EU in future, too. The reasons for this are the efficient and environmentally sound expansion of the infrastructure, improved availability and competitiveness, its high efficiency rate, its safe transport and consumption as well as the low investment costs of most gas applications compared to coal and mineral oil products. We can therefore expect the share of natural gas in primary energy consumption to rise further in future, both on the national and the European market.
Which countries is the gas transported by the OPAL pipeline intended for?
The OPAL will make a key contribution to a secure and flexible supply of natural gas in Germany and the European Union. In addition to the OPAL, the NEL will also transport natural gas from the Nord Stream pipeline to the West. Together the onshore pipeline links will transport additional quantities of natural gas to Germany and neighboring countries.
How do the regions along the pipeline benefit from the investments?
With the two pipeline projects, the OPAL and the NEL, the WINGAS Group will make a vital contribution to a secure supply of natural gas, which is, of course, also good for the towns and communities along the pipeline route. The WINGAS Group is also boosting the regional economy with these investments: while the main building work contracts for laying the pipeline are assigned to designated specialist firms, these firms usually pass on parts of these building contracts to local sub-contractors.
