The Gryazovets – Vyborg gas trunkline provides gas supplies to consumers in northwestern Russia and delivers gas into the Nord Stream export gas pipeline.
~
kilometers
billion cubic meters of gas per year
design capacity
design capacity
~
900
kilometers
55
billion cubic meters of gas per year
design capacity
design capacity
Figures and facts
Length: around 900 kilometers.
Annual design capacity: 55 billion cubic meters of gas.
Base diameter of pipes: 1,420 millimeters.
Working pressure: 100 atm (9.8 MPa).
Compressor stations: 7.
Capacity of Portovaya compressor station: 366 MW.
The gas pipeline passes through the Vologda and Leningrad Regions.
Development
The construction of the Gryazovets – Vyborg gas pipeline started on December 9, 2005, in Babaevo, Vologda Region.
The main part of the gas pipeline, i.e. its linear section, was completed by late 2010. The top-priority compressor capacities required for pumping gas into the first string of the Nord Stream gas pipeline were brought online in 2011.
In 2012, the pipeline was expanded by a looping system (around 700 kilometers in length) and the compressor capacities required for feeding gas into Nord Stream’s second string.
The remaining compressor capacities were put into service in 2013.
Technologies
The Gryazovets – Vyborg gas pipeline was built using the best practices of Russian companies and innovative engineering solutions that helped ensure high reliability, technical and economic efficiency, and environmental safety during its construction and operation.
Domestically manufactured pipes with internal flow coating and next-generation shut-off valves were used to construct the pipeline’s linear part. Pipeline sections laid in saturated soils were reinforced with special weight coating and ballasting devices to stabilize pipes and prevent them from floating to the surface.
The pipeline crossings through watercourses were built using, inter alia, horizontal directional drilling (Sheksna and Volkhov Rivers) and microtunneling techniques (Neva River and Saimaa Canal). The crossings were strengthened by an increased pipe wall thickness of up to 26.3 millimeters, polyethylene pipe casings, 3.5-millimeter three-layer anti-corrosion insulation, and an interior epoxy layer.
In order to increase energy efficiency during gas transmission, high-performance energy saving equipment was installed at compressor stations.
The final point of the Gryazovets – Vyborg gas pipeline is the Portovaya compressor station, which is used to transmit gas via Nord Stream. With the capacity of 366 MW, the working pressure of 220 atm, and the transmission distance of over 1,200 kilometers, Portovaya is unlike any other facility in the global gas industry. To build it, Gazprom used cutting-edge equipment and novel technologies. For instance, the station was equipped with six 52 MW gas compressors and two 27 MW gas compressors, with the former used for the first time in the history of the Unified Gas Supply System.
The gas treatment unit at the Portovaya compressor station helps prevent condensate and gas hydrate formation in the offshore gas pipeline. With the daily gas drying capacity of 170 million cubic meters, it was the most efficient gas treatment unit in the world at the time of its commissioning.
Environment
Gazprom is always committed to environmental sustainability when running its projects. In order to mitigate its environmental footprint and preserve the unique ecosystem of the Baltic Sea and its surroundings, the Company followed the most stringent requirements of Russian and international environmental safety standards.
Among other things, Gazprom regularly carried out technical and biological reclamation of disturbed lands and cleaned up riverbeds as part of the project. The horizontal directional drilling and microtunneling techniques used in creating water crossings made it possible to leave river ecosystems undisturbed during pipeline construction and operation.
