18-01-2019

Bilfinger awarded prestigious contract for gas treatment facility

Trans Europa Naturgas Pipeline GmbH & Co. KG has awarded a major contract to Bilfinger for the engineering, assembly, and commissioning of a complete deodorization plant located at the border between Germany and Switzerland. Facilities of this type serve the removal of the odorant tetrahydrothiophene (THT) that is initially added to natural gas. The substance allows any leakages of natural gas, which otherwise is odorless, to be detected. In Germany, THT is injected only when the natural gas is in the systems of the local gas utility companies; by contrast to the practice of other European countries, it is not permissible to transmit the substance in the long-distance pipelines in Germany.

The lead company responsible for the project is Bilfinger EMS, which has decades of experience in the field of gas treatment facilities. Other companies involved are Bilfinger Bohr-und Rohrtechnik, Bilfinger VAM for the adsorbers, as well as Bilfinger GreyLogix, which will be responsible for process control engineering. The contract volume amounts to approximately € 36 million.

“This project order affirms our Bilfinger 2020 Strategy. We are pooling our strengths to deliver added value to our customers. The contract awarded to us is proof positive that we have important contributions to make where the supply of energy in Germany is concerned,” says Bilfinger COO Duncan Hall.

The Trans Europa Naturgas Pipeline is a major north-south link serving the transmission of natural gas. It consists of two parallel high-pressure gas pipelines and traverses 500 kilometers from the boundary between Germany and the Netherlands to the Swiss-German border. The owner of the pipeline is TENP GmbH & Co. KG, a company of which 51 percent are owned by Open Grid Europe GmbH and 49 percent by Fluxys TENP GmbH.

This plant will make a decisive contribution to further developing the interoperability technology in Europe since it enhances the flexibility in gas imports for Germany, enabling gas to be procured from countries in which other odorizing processes are deployed.