Global energy and marine consultancy ABL has finalized the marine warranty survey scope in connection with the successful installation of Germany’s Ostsee Anbindungsleitung (OAL) subsea pipeline, with the first gas feed-in expected imminently.
ABL was contracted by Gascade to provide marine warranty survey (MWS) services to oversee the transportation and installation (T&I) operations relating to the 50 kilometer long 48-inch subsea pipeline.
The pipeline connects the planned LNG terminal in the port of Mukran with the German pipeline network in Lubmin.
In the future, the pipeline will also be used to feed green hydrogen into the German grid via the Mukran entry point.
“OAL is an important energy infrastructure project which strengthens the security of gas supply in Germany and across Europe. ABL has a long history acting as marine warranty surveyor as well as engineering and marine consultant for the installation of some of the world’s most significant subsea pipeline projects,” says Sergio Leone, ABL’s MWS tender and project manager for the OAL pipeline project.
The above water tie-in was recently completed signaling the end of the subsea construction phase and the successful construction of the OAL within a short timeframe.
"This means that the ambitious goal of enabling gas feed-ins into this pipeline in the winter of 2023/24 has been achieved. This is the contribution we can make as a transmission system operator to improving German and European security of supply and its resilience to crises. Despite a very ambitious schedule, we managed to complete the OAL in record time," said Ulrich Benterbusch, Managing Director of GASCADE.
Day-to-day management of the project was coordinated by ABL’s team in Germany, based in Hamburg.
Onsite attendances were supported by ABL’s wider European network, to ensure operations are resourced with local technical expertise where possible, including using consultants from ABL Germany, Holland, Norway and France.