The Russky Island (Vladivostok) hosted today celebrations dedicated to the commissioning of the first startup complex at the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas transmission system (GTS) and to the launch of gas supplies to the Primorsky Krai.

Taking part in the event were Vladimir Putin, Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation; Viktor Ishaev, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal Okrug; Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Sergey Darkin Governor of the Primorsky Krai.

The GTS route starts in Sakhalin, crosses the Nevelsky Strait, passes near Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Khabarovsk and ends in the vicinity of Vladivostok. Gazprom has constructed the GTS sections from Sakhalin to Komsomolsk-on-Amur and from Khabarovsk to Vladivostok with the total length of 1,350 kilometers (diameter – 1,200 millimeters, working pressure – 100 Ata). The existing gas pipeline from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Khabarovsk (diameter – 700 millimeters, length – 472 kilometers) is also a part of the GTS. Thus, the total GTS length exceeds 1,800 kilometers.

The capacity of the GTS first startup complex makes up 6 billion cubic meters per year. Besides the linepipe, the startup complex consists of the Sakhalin main compressor station, a gas distribution station (GDS) in Vladivostok, power supply, telemechanics, communications systems and access roads.

For the purpose of natural gas supplies to the 2012 APEC Summit venues a 34-kilometer-long inter-settlement gas pipeline was built from the GDS to the Russky Island with a lateral to CHPP-2 in Vladivostok. The most complicated section of the gas pipeline – a two-string submerged crossing under the Eastern Bosphorus Strait (the first string is completed by now) – was built through directional drilling. Given the extremely harsh geological environment (rocks), significant length (2.8 kilometers for each string) and considerable tunnel diameter (762 millimeters), this crossing is unparalleled in Russia and is a unique facility of the national gas industry.

At the initial stage the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok GTS will receive the Russian state entitlement gas from the Sakhalin II project as well as gas from Sakhalin I. Later on, its main gas sources will be the Kirinskoye gas and condensate field, the Kirinsky, Vostochno-Odoptinsky and Ayashsky blocks of the Sakhalin shelf.

CHPP-2 in Vladivostok was the first gas consumer in the Primorsky Krai, later on gas will be delivered to the 2012 APEC Summit venues located on the Russky Island. CHPP-2 conversion from coal to gas will ensure more reliable power supply to Vladivostok consumers as well as far better environmental situation in the city. In early 2012 natural gas will also be delivered to CHPP-1 in Vladivostok and the city's Severnaya boiler house.

In addition, the GTS will considerably enhance the reliability of gas supplies to the Khabarovsk Krai and promote machine building, gas chemical and gas processing industries in the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais. It will also contribute to developing the gasification process in the Sakhalin Oblast.

As gas consumption grows, the linepipe from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Khabarovsk will be stretched, and the throughput of the entire system will be boosted through the commissioning of extra facilities at the Sakhalin main compressor station and the construction of another 13 compressor stations. At full capacity, the GTS will be able to convey some 30 billion cubic meters of Sakhalin gas annually.

In 2012 Gazprom will launch construction of the Yakutia – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas transmission system that will boost the reliability of gas supplies to the Far East.

“The Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok GTS is a key element of the Unified Gas Supply System being built in eastern Russia. Gazprom has built the GTS first startup complex at a record pace of only two years and in strict compliance with the deadline set by the Russian Government.

The GTS allows for supplying natural gas to major industrial consumers in several Far Eastern regions simultaneously. It has triggered large-scale gasification of Russia’s Far East and created conditions for gas supplies to Asia-Pacific.

I am confident that everybody in the Far East will soon feel the benefits of natural gas for the economic development and the improvement of living conditions,” said Alexey Miller.

Background

In compliance with the Russian Government's assignment, Gazprom implements the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok GTS for the purpose of developing gas supply to the Khabarovsk Krai, arranging gas deliveries to the Primorsky Krai, the 2012 APEC Summit venues inclusive.

The GTS is a top-priority element of the Eastern Gas Program and a crucial project within the Socioeconomic Development Strategy for the Far East and the Baikal Region until 2025 approved by the Russian Government.

The GTS construction was launched in July 2009.

The GTS crosses the areas with a challenging seismotectonic environment. In addition to the submerged crossing under the Nevelsky Strait, the builders had to deal with more than 400 watercourses belonging to the basins of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers.

2,500 machinery units and 6,500 workers, of which 1,200 being residents of the Far Eastern Federal Okrug, were engaged in the construction process.

Over the project implementation period nearly 1.4 million tons of cargoes including 1.1 million tons of large-diameter pipes and more than 0.1 million tons of process equipment were delivered to the gas pipeline construction sites from various regions. More than 30 thousand railway cars were used for the equipment transportation.