The Yamal-Europe gas pipeline is a major pipeline to supply Russian gas to Western Europe. Measuring more than 2,000km in length, it is one of the longest land-based gas pipelines in the world.
The pipeline originates at Torzhok in Russia and passes through Belarus and Poland to terminate near Frankfurt (Oder) in Germany. The 56in-diameter transnational gas pipeline has a total of 14 compressor stations installed along its route.
Construction on the Yamal-Europe pipeline started in 1994 and the initial operations started with the commissioning of a 209km-long section from the Nesvizhskaya compressor station to the Belarussian-Polish border in Belarus in November 1999.
The Yamal-Europe pipeline achieved its design gas transportation capacity of 32.9 billion cubic metres (bcm) a year in 2006.
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The Yamal-Europe natural gas pipeline transports Russian gas to Belarus, Poland and Germany in Western Europe. Image courtesy of EuRoPol GAZ s.a
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The Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline spans 684km and comprises five gas compressor stations along its route. Image courtesy of EuRoPol GAZ s.a
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The Mallnow compressor station, located near Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, transmits natural gas received from Yamal-Europe pipeline to the JAGAL pipeline. Image courtesy of GASCADE Gastransport GmbH.
Gazprom owns and operates the Russian and Belarusian sections of the pipeline, while EuRoPol Gaz and WINGAS are the owners of the Polish and German sections, respectively.
Details of the Russian section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline
The 402km-long Russian section of the pipeline originates at the Torzhok gas transmission hub located in the Tver Oblast. The pipeline consists of three compressor stations at Rzhevskaya, Kholm-Zhirkovskaya and Smolenskaya.
The Yamal-Europe gas pipeline receives gas from the 2,200km-long Northern Tyumen Region (SRTO)-Torzhok, which transports gas from the Urengoyskoye onshore field in the Nadym-Pur-Tazovsky region of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area in Western Siberia to Torzhok.
Discovered in 1966, the Urengoyskoye is one of the biggest gas condensate fields in Russia.
Details of the Belarusian and Polish sections
The 575km-long Belarusian section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline project consists of five compressor stations located at Nesvizhskaya, Krupskaya, Slonimskaya, Minskaya and Orshanskaya.
The Nesvizhskaya compressor station started operations in December 1999, while the Krupskaya and Slonimskaya compressor stations were commissioned in November 2005. The Minskaya compressor station started operations in September 2006.
Gazprom Transgaz Belarus, a subsidiary of Gazprom, is the operator of the Belarusian section of the pipeline.
The 684km-long Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline comprises five gas compressor stations located at Ciechanow, Szamotuly, Zambrow, Wloclawek, and Kondratki.
The Kondratki and Wloclawek stations were commissioned in 1999 and 2000, respectively, while the Ciechanow and Szamotuly compressor stations commenced operations in July 2005. The Zambrow compressor station started operations in February 2006.
EuRoPol Gaz is the owner of the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline. The shareholders in the EuRoPol GAZ include Polish state-controlled oil and gas company PGNiG (48%), Gazprom (48%) and PGNiG’s subsidiary, Gas-Trading (4%). Gaz-System is the operator of the pipeline in Poland.
German section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline details
The Mallnow compressor station located in Brandenburg, Germany near the German-Polish border is the terminal point of the Yamal-Europe pipeline. The Russian gas flows to the German gas network from the Mallnow compressor station, which was commissioned in November 1996.
The compressor station is also capable of transporting gas from Germany to Poland in the reverse direction through the Yamal-Europe pipeline.
The Mallnow compressor station consists of four compressors with an aggregate compressor output of 96.2MW. The compressor station has a capacity of 3.34 million cubic metres an hour at a maximum operating pressure of 100 bar.
The compressor station, located near Frankfurt (Oder), is connected to the 338km-long JAGAL pipeline which meets the STEGAL pipeline at Ruckersdorf, Germany. The JAGAL pipeline was commissioned in September 1999.
Gascade, a subsidiary of WIGA, is the operator of the Mallnow compressor station. WIGA is a joint venture between Wintershall Dea and Gazprom.
Contractors involved
Stroytransgaz was contracted to construct 977km of pipeline along with compressor stations for the Russia-Belarus section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline project.
Gazpromstroyengineering, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gazprom, was selected as the general contractor for the construction of Krupskaya and Minskaya compressor stations in Belarus.
MAN Energy Solutions supplied three FT8 gas turbines, one MAN DK 63/130 steam turbine and four centrifugal pipeline compressors for the Mallnow compressor station.
ABB was awarded a service contract by EuRoPol GAZ for the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline in 2019. The contractual scope included the modernisation of the automation systems and the implementation of new digital technologies.