The German section of Statoil's Europipe II gas trunkline is almost complete, with the Dornum receiving station handed over to the operations team.
Following installation, testing and hand-over to Statoil Deutschland in nearby Emden, the new facilities at the coastal station began to be filled with gas from Europipe I on 20 July. This work will be completed during the weekend.
All official approvals required before introducing gas to the system have been received.
"This is an important milestone for Europipe II," says project director Roar Jensen. He reports that this part of the development is on schedule and below budget.
When the trunkline begins normal operation on 1 October, daily delivery capacity for Norwegian gas to Germany will rise from 50 to 115 million cubic metres .
More than half of these supplies will go to customers in Germany, principally Ruhrgas, BEB Erdgas und Erdöl, Thyssengas and Verbundnetz Gas. The rest is due for delivery to the Netherlands, Austria and the Czech Republic.
The Europipe II project has been dogged by delays, and Mr Jensen is accordingly very pleased that the German part is virtually complete.
With the rest of the development also proceeding as planned, he emphasises that the pipeline will be ready for operation on 1 October.
Procurement, contracts and services in Germany for Europipe II-related land pipelines and expansion work at Dornum and Emden are worth some DEM 121 million.
Mr Jensen and Statoil Deutschland president John Eldøy underline the cooperation which has prevailed between project and operations organisations during the construction period, and praise the contribution of their teams.
Agreements were established at an early stage to regulate collaboration between the two organisations, and joint safety goals and philosophies were defined.
Work in the Dornum station area has been completed without lost-time injuries.