16.09.2011

Ground Broken at Katharina Underground Storage Facility at Peissen, Bernburg

Bernburg/ Peißen, 16.09.2011. First ground will be broken today at the site of the Katharina underground natural gas storage facility (USF Katharina) in Peissen, at a ceremony to be attended by the minister-president of Saxony-Anhalt, Dr Reiner Haseloff. The Katharina underground storage facility is named after Russian Empress Catherine II, born Sophia Augusta Frederica, Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst 282 years ago.

 

VNG-Verbundnetz Aktiengesellschaft (VNG) and Gazprom export LLC agreed to construct a large new storage facility in Saxony-Anhalt in Moscow in April 2008. VNG has operated an underground storage facility near the city of Bernburg since 1974.

 

Erdgasspeicher Peissen GmbH, based in Halle (Saale), was established to carry out the investment and operate the new storage facility and will commission the 12 caverns step-by-step by 2024. Once completed, the storage facility will offer capacity for 600 Mm³ of working gas. This is enough to reliably supply around 300,000 households for a year. Also under construction is a 37 kilometre long connection line to the JAGAL natural gas pipeline, thereby providing a direct connection to the trans-European transport system.

 

Member of the GAZPROM management committee Oleg Aksyutin, VNG executive board chairman Dr Karsten Heuchert, GAZPROM Germania GmbH senior managing director Vyacheslav Krupenkov, and other representatives from business and politics will attend the groundbreaking ceremony.

 

GAZPROM Germania GmbH and VNG-Verbundnetz AG have invested a total of EUR 367 million in the storage project. “Building a secure, sustainable supply system for Europe is GAZPROM’s top priority, and storage projects such as Katharina play an important role in this. But this is more than just investment in a secure natural gas supply: It is a commitment to the German market, to which we have providing a reliable supply of natural gas for 40 years. Particularly in light of the current energy debate in Germany, this investment will boost the security of supply of environmentally friendly natural gas,” said Vyacheslav Krupenkov, Senior Managing Director of GAZPROM Germania GmbH.

 

“Our collaborative construction and operation of this natural gas storage facility represents an expansion of the many years of cooperation between Gazprom and VNG,” said Dr Karsten Heuchert. “We are combining our expertise in this area and improving the conditions for reliably supplying customers with natural gas. USF Katharina is also a milestone in the expansion of Europe’s gas infrastructure.” Heuchert stressed that the significance of storage facilities has changed, and that they now fulfil a different role to what they once did. “Natural gas storage facilities used to cater to seasonal fluctuations, but are increasingly important as a means of optimizing portfolios. There have also been discussions about storing biogas and synthetic natural gas, which is synthesized using solar energy and wind energy. Gas importers are therefore playing a dual role: as procurement specialists and marketing specialists.”

 

The Katharina underground storage facility will create new jobs in the region, with a number of building contracts awarded to local companies to strengthen Saxony-Anhalt’s local economy.

 

 

About GAZPROM Germania

 

Berlin-based GAZPROM Germania GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the world’s largest natural gas producer, GAZPROM OJSC. Since its establishment in 1990, it has developed into an internationally operating group of companies. Its main fields of business include natural gas production, natural gas storage, and natural gas trading. The group comprises around 40 companies operating in more than 20 countries in Europe and Central Asia. GAZPROM Germania has around 200 employees at its Berlin site and over 500 employees in the group as a whole.

 

Together with its strategic partners, GAZPROM Germania GmbH is making a valuable contribution to ensuring a reliable, environmentally friendly, and sustainable energy supply for Europe. Since its establishment, GAZPROM Germania has invested a total of four billion euros in the expansion of natural gas infrastructure, and thereby in the security of the gas supply.

 

Contact person:

 

Burkhard Woelki

Director of Corporate Communications

Phone: +49 30 / 20 195 – 152

burkhard.woelki(at)gazprom-germania.de

 

GAZPROM Germania GmbH

Markgrafenstrasse 23

10117 Berlin

Internet: www.gazprom-germania.de

 

 

About VNG-Verbundnetz Gas AG

 

VNG – the natural gas specialist: VNG supports its customers in a competitive environment with products and services relating to all aspects of natural gas. VNG covers the entire value chain with its four main areas of businsess: exploration and production, trading and services, transportation, and storage. With its portfolio of long-term import contracts and access to all European markets, VNG has what it takes to meet the market. Its own network and storage intrastructure and exploration and production activities bolster VNG’s security of supply. VNG makes natural gas an environmentally-friendly and innovative product with a wide range of applications and offers a unique spectrum of services. For over 50 years, VNG has combined strong regional roots with an international orientation. VNG is Germany’s third-largest importer of natural gas. In 2010, the VNG group generated EUR 6.3 billion in sales and employed a workforce of 1,400.

 

For more information, visit www.vng.de.

 

VNG operates a cavern storage facility comprising 35 caverns with a working gas volume of almost 1.1 Gm³ near Bernburg, Saxony-Anhalt. VNG’s four underground gas storage facilities in Bad Lachstädt, Bernburg, Buchholz, and Kirchheiligen in northern and central Germany together have a total usable storage capacity of 2.6 Gm³. That makes Leipzig-based VNG the third-largest operator of natural gas storage facilities in Germany.

 

Contact person:

 

Bernhard Kaltefleiter

Head of Corporate Communications

Phone: +49 341 / 443 – 2058

Bernhard.Kaltefleiter(at)vng.de

 

VNG–Verbundnetz AG

Braunstrasse 7

04347 Leipzig

Internet: www.vng.de

 

 

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