Older information construction phases of the gas compressor station

During a construction site visit on 31 October, Andreas Schell, Chairman of the Executive Board of EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, gained an insight into the new construction of the gas compressor station in Rheinstetten. 

Project Leader Susanne Kurschat led Andreas Schell in the company of Managing Director Katrin Flinspach and colleagues through the building site. The EnBW CEO informed himself about the technical functionality of the system, the construction work status and current challenges. 

As part of the Baden-Württemberg Energy Transition Days on 23 September, terranets bw gave all those who were interested an opportunity to gain insight into how a gas compressor station is constructed. With a guided tour, experts explained how a gas compressor station works and at various points, visitors could also learn what measures were taken to protect the environment. Insect-friendly lighting, for example, was installed in the facilities.

To compensate unavoidable impacts, areas are being reforested among other measures. Visitors were also very interested in the future supply of energy with hydrogen. terranets bw is working on a connection for Baden-Wurttemberg to the European and national hydrogen infrastructure and is preparing its pipeline system for transporting hydrogen.

Dirk Güsewell, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of terranets bw GmbH and Member of the Executive Board of EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, took the opportunity to visit the compressor station construction site on the Nordschwarzwald pipeline in Rheinstetten on 9 August. In the company of Managing Director Katrin Flinspach and Dr. Daniel Pietzka (Divisional Manager Planning, Projecs and Constructions), he informed himself about the current status of the construction works. Project Leader Susanne Kurschat and Wolf Künzelmann (Site Management - Superstructure), guided their guests through the construction site.

Leak testing on the whole gas system was performed the previous weekend and was completed successfully.

All interested parties will soon be able to visit the construction site for themselves at a "Construction Site Open Day”from 2:00 p.m. to 5 p.m. on 23 September, which is taking place as part of the "Baden-Württemberg Energy Transition Days”. It is planned that from 4 September it will be possible to register for the guided tours here on the project website.
 

The last weeks and months have been devoted to installing the interior fittings. The current focus is on electrical installations and technical equipment inside the buildings. The first switch cabinets for all buildings have been delivered. All doors and windowshave been fitted in the operations building and installation of the sanitary facilities has begun. Wiring of the compressor units has already started in the machine hall.

Many ancillary systems such as recompressors, harmonic filters and the medium voltage system are also being installed. Filling of the site continues to take shape and, in the end, the ground will be about two metres above the original ground level.
 

Although the compressor station is meanwhile taking on its final shape on the outside, there still remains a lot to do: Approximately 130 km of cable still have to be laid, more than 10,000 cable cores need to be connected and 660 sensors and actuators have to be fitted in the plant. At the beginning of August, pressure testing of all pipelines on the site will also take place.

Save the Date: On 23 September, terranets bw is organising a ”Construction Site Opening Day” as part of the "Baden-Württemberg Energy Transition Days”. Further information on the event will follow in the next weeks.

In March, a pressure test of the fittings group and fuel gas pipeline was successfully carried out.  
The construction of the new valve group as a link between the Nordschwarzwald pipeline and the gas compressor station is almost complete.

The connection of the fittings group to the existing Nordschwarzwald gas pipeline (NOS) of terranets bw was successfully completed at the beginning of April.The connecting pipeline from the fittings group to the compressor station has also already been laid. The connection is scheduled for April 2023.

In the past few weeks, the roof work on the operations building and the energy centre was completed. The interior work is progressing; floors, doors and stairs are being installed and painting work is being carried out.

In the coming weeks, the interior work on the operations and workshop building and the energy centre will continue at full speed. The pipe construction of the compressor station should essentially be completed by summer.

After a short winter break, construction works for the gas compressor station in Rheinstetten were resumed at the beginning of the year. The facade works on the machine hall progress. The roof work on the operations building and the energy centre is expected to be finished in March, at the same time interior works begin. In February, the last pipe material for the pipe construction was produced and will now be delivered step by step to the construction site.

Welding work has now started on site to construct the connection line to the Nordschwarzwald pipeline (NOS) as well as for the fuel gas pipeline. Welding of the fittings group has almost been completed. Integration of the gas compressor station into the NOS is expected to occur in April. At the same time, reforestation of woodland areas in Rheinstetten begins with the planting of oak trees and robust shrubs in February. These measures were defined as ecological compensation measures for the construction of the station. 

With completion of the four compressor halls, they are now ready for installing the compressor units. In December, two of the three gas compressors as well as the electric compressor were already delivered. The turbines for the compressor units have already been delivered and the last compressor will be delivered in January 2023. Parallel to this, construction works on the operations building and energy centre are progressing: the first floor of the operations building has been completed, structural works for the energy centre will be finished in January 2023. 

The civil works for the fittings group as well as the connection lines to the Nordschwarzwald pipeline (NOS) have also been completed. The pipes are ready for the pipe construction, which will begin at the beginning of next year. Foundations for the piping of the compressor station were also poured. Simultaneously, the first ecological compensation measures for the construction of the gas compressor station were initiated. 

All four halls are erected where the compressor units will be installed in the next months. Construction of the operations building, in which both the repair shop and the offices for terranets bw employees will be located, has made great progress. This means that the landfill of the site to reduce the incline to the Panzer street could begin. 

In addition, integration of the gas compressor station into the existing Nordschwarzwald gas pipeline (NOS) is prepared. The civil works of the fittings group required for this will be completed by the end of the year. Parallel to this, connection lines to the NOS are being built. The filtersystems through which the gas is cleaned prior to the compression process have already been assembled and the gas coolers that will cool down the gas to transport temperature after compression have also been installed in the meantime. 

Construction works for the new gas compressor station in Rheinstetten are progressing. Recently, setting up of the construction site was completed. This means all storage, handling and traffic areas are prepared. Equipment, machines and containers for the workers as well as for weather-sensitive building materials are also ready. terranets bw´s technical project manager, Nils Höger, who is regularly on site, also has a permanent working place on the construction site. In these weeks, foundations for the planned buildings such as the machine hall, the energy centre and the administration building are being prepared.

For this purpose, the previously braided rebars are filled with concrete. The surrounding formwork ensures that the concrete can harden without any negative external impact. 
In the next step, the ground slabs are also made of reinforced concrete and will later support the prefabricated walls. And what is indispensable in all this: both 25-metre-high construction cranes used for construction site logistics.

On 6 September, initial construction works began on site. This included setting up the construction site area and erecting a construction sign.

From 13 September, the site was prepared for the new gas compressor station. 

While preparing for the construction works, measures were implemented to protect nature around the site and to work on compensation for the impact. Since the commencement of construction, interested parties have been able to discover more about the project, the single project steps and the measures implemented to protect the environment during construction and operation of the gas compressor station.