An integrated Automated Process Control System (APCS) for the Portovaya CS passed field tests today at the premises of Gazprom avtomatizatsiya in Moscow.

The system is based on latest IT developments and a unified hardware and software platform that make it possible to supervise the Portovaya CS primary and auxiliary equipment from a single control center as well as to minimize operating costs. The APCS accounts for the Portovaya CS specific requirements. In particular, these refer to rapid switching of the modes of gas supply to the Nord Stream gas pipeline as well as to operational reliability assurance.

The field tests showed that the system fully met the desired parameters.

Background

The Portovaya CS will ensure gas transmission via the Nord Stream gas pipeline. It will be a unique gas transmission facility in terms of aggregate capacity (366 MW), working pressure (220 Ata), gas transmission distance (1,200 kilometers) and daily gas dehydration volume (170 million cubic meters). In the course of the station construction Gazprom utilizes novel equipment and cutting-edge technologies.

Nord Stream is a fundamentally new route for Russian gas export to Europe. Running under the Baltic Sea from the Portovaya Bay (near Vyborg) to the German coast (near Greifswald) the gas pipeline will stretch for approximately 1,200 kilometers. Nord Stream will link Russia's Unified Gas Supply System directly to the EU gas transmission system. The first pipeline string will be commissioned in 2011, second one – in 2012. The aggregate capacity of the gas pipeline will reach 55 billion cubic meters.