Press Release - VNG Verbundnetz Gas AG

Press Release
VNG/ GAZPROM Germania/ EPG/ Storage/ Krupenkov/ Heuchert
Ground breaking ceremony at “Katharina” underground storage
facility in Peißen near Bernburg
12 caverns will be successively commissioned by 2024
Bernburg/Peißen, September 16, 2011. The ground breaking ceremony for the
“Katharina” underground storage facility at Peißen near Bernburg takes place today
in the presence of Saxony-Anhalt’s Minister-President, Dr. Reiner Haseloff. The
facility takes its name from the Russian Tsarina Catherine II, who was born 282 years
ago as Princess Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst.
In April 2008, VNG – Verbundnetz Gas Aktiengesellschaft (VNG) and OOO Gazprom
Export met in Moscow to agree on the construction of a large new storage facility in
Saxony-Anhalt. VNG has already been operating such a facility near the town of
Bernburg since 1974.
Erdgasspeicher Peissen GmbH registered in Halle (Saale) was established to build
and operate the new facility, which will successively commission twelve caverns by
2024. In the final stage of the project, storage volume will total approx. 600 million
cubic meters, a sufficient quantity of gas to guarantee annual supplies to approx.
300,000 homes. A 37 km line connecting the facility with the JAGAL pipeline will also
be built, providing a direct tie-in with the trans-European transmission network.
Oleg Aksyutin, Member of the Management Committee of GAZPROM, Dr. Karsten
Heuchert, VNG Executive Board Chairman, Vyacheslav Krupenkov, Senior Managing
Director of GAZPROM Germania GmbH, and other guests from politics and industry
were also present at the ground breaking ceremony for the underground storage
facility.
GAZPROM Germania GmbH and VNG – Verbundnetz Gas AG are investing
approx. 368 million euros in the project. In this context Vyacheslav Krupenkov, Senior
Managing Director of GAZPROM Germania GmbH, commented. “Expanding a
secure and sustainable supply system in Europe has the highest priority for
GAZPROM. Storage projects such as ‘Katharina’ are an important building block in
this regard. This is not only an investment in secure gas supplies, but also a
commitment to the German market where we have been a reliable gas supplier for
40 years. In particular given the current energy discussion in Germany, this
investment reinforces secure, environmentally friendly supplies of natural gas.”
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“The joint construction and operation of this underground storage facility expands the
long-standing cooperation between GAZPROM and VNG”, Dr. Karsten Heuchert
added. “We are pooling our experience in this field and creating key prerequisites for
secure gas supplies to our customers. The Katharina underground storage facility
also lays a milestone for the further expansion of European gas infrastructure”, the
VNG Executive Board Chairman continued. Heuchert also underlined that the
significance of storage had changed and that storage now also involved additional
tasks. “Underground storage facilities used to be mainly used to balance seasonal
variations; nowadays, though, they are extensively used for portfolio optimization.
Apart from injecting biomethane, the injection and storage of synthetic natural gas
produced from wind and solar power is also being discussed. As a result, gas
importers fulfil an important double role in the marketplace as procurement and
marketing specialists.”
The Katharina underground storage facility will create many jobs in the region.
Particular attention is to be devoted to contracting local firms to carry out construction
work with a view to permanently strengthening the position of Saxony-Anhalt as an
industrial location.
About GAZPROM Germania
Berlin-based GAZPROM Germania GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the world’s largest
natural gas producer, OAO GAZPROM. 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 gas
supply.
Contact:
Burkhard Woelki
Director of marketing and corporate communication
Phone: +49 30 20 195 – 152
burkhard.woelki@gazprom-germania.de
GAZPROM Germania GmbH
Markgrafenstraße 23
10117 Berlin
Germany
Internet: http://www.gazprom-germania.de
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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. With its four pillars of
exploration and production, trading and services, transport, and storage, VNG covers the full
value chain. VNG’s purchasing portfolio includes long-term import contracts, and the
company has access to all European trading markets, thereby guaranteeing natural gas
supplies in line with the market. The company’s own network and storage infrastructure as
well as its exploration and production activities further enhance the security of supply. VNG
turns natural gas into an environmentally-friendly and innovative product with a wide range of
applications as well as offering a unique spectrum of services. With over 50 years of
experience, VNG is a company with strong regional roots that is active on the international
stage. VNG is Germany’s third largest gas importer. In 2010, the VNG Group with its
workforce of approx. 1,400 generated sales of €6.3 billion.
For further information, please go to http://www.vng.de
VNG currently operates a cavity storage facility comprising 35 caverns with a working gas
capacity of almost 1.1 billion m³ near Bernburg in Saxony-Anhalt. VNG’s four underground
storage facilities located at Bad Lauchstädt, Bernburg, Buchholz and Kirchheilingen in central
and northern Germany have a total working gas capacity of 2.6 billion m³, making the
Leipzig-based company the third largest national storage operator.
Contact:
Bernhard Kaltefleiter
Head of Corporate Communications / Group Spokesperson
Phone: +49 341 / 443 – 2058
Bernhard.Kaltefleiter@vng.de
VNG – Verbundnetz Gas AG
Braunstraße 7
04347 Leipzig
Germany
Internet: http://www.vng.de
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