The installation of the first gas compressor unit (GCU) started today at the Russkaya compressor station (CS) in the Krasnodar Territory. The station will ensure gas transmission via the South Stream gas pipeline.

The domestically produced Ladoga GCU being installed at the Russkaya CS has a 32 MW capacity, features high efficiency (36 per cent) and low emissions. All in all, the station will be equipped with 14 similar compressor units having an aggregate capacity of 448 MW.

The GCU installation started as per schedule and marked an important milestone in the construction of the Russkaya CS as well as the South Stream gas pipeline.

Russkaya will become the most powerful compressor station: it will annually pump 63 billion cubic meters of natural gas through the Black Sea for over 900 kilometers.

Background

South Stream is Gazprom's project aimed at constructing a gas pipeline with a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters across the Black Sea to Southern and Central Europe for the purpose of diversifying the natural gas export routes and eliminating transit risks. South Stream's offshore section will run under the Black Sea from the Russkaya compressor station on the Russian coast to the Bulgarian coast. A 1,455-kilometer onshore section will cross Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia. The gas pipeline will end at the Tarvisio gas distribution station in Italy. Gas branches from the main pipeline route will be built to Croatia and to Republika Srpska (the state formation within Bosnia and Herzegovina).

The South Stream gas pipeline is currently being built in Russia, Bulgaria and Serbia. As planned, the first gas will be supplied via South Stream in late 2015. The gas pipeline will reach its full capacity in 2018.

The Portovaya CS is nowadays the world's most powerful compressor station. Its aggregate capacity is 366 MW, working pressure – 220 Ata, gas transmission distance – above 1,200 kilometers. It is located in the Portovaya Bay near Vyborg (Leningrad Region) and secures gas transmission via Nord Stream.