Construction on Karksi gas-metering station begins as first part of Balticconnector cluster

On Wednesday, Elering concluded a contract for the construction of the Karksi gas-metering station (GMS) and the Lilli pipeline valve station near the Estonia-Latvia border with Lithuanian company UAB MT Group and German firm PPS Pipeline Systems GmBH, with a total cost of 8.1 million euros.

According to Chairman of the Elering Board, Taavi Veskimägi, the renovation of the Karksi GMS and the construction of the Lilli pipeline valve station is one part of the entire Balticconnector cluster, which is essential to ensure gas supplies between the Finnish, Estonian and Latvian gas networks. “In addition, the renovation of the Karksi gas-metering station is needed in order to meet the European Union regulation that requires two-way gas flows between member states,” said Veskimägi.

A new metering station and control building will be constructed on the site of the existing Karksi natural gas metering station. The new metering station will be fully automated, remotely controlled, and will allow gas both entering and exiting Estonia to be metered. The new gas-metering station will have a capacity of 10 million cubic metres per day, equivalent to 420,000 cubic metres an hour.

The new fully automated metering station will ensure faster set-up and better accuracy, as the equipment can be controlled directly through a computer by monitoring parameters.

As part of the project, the entirety of the Karksi GMS’s pipeline, gas metering equipment and station control systems will be replaced. Four new metering lines will be built for the station, each equipped with two ultrasonic gas meters to ensure higher metering accuracy, and three new gas chromatographs to ensure gas composition and quality. A 440-metre section of the Vireši-Tallinn DN700 transmission pipeline near the metering station will also be replaced.

At Lilli, near the Estonia-Latvia border, a remotely operable gas pipeline valve station will be installed for the Vireši-Tallinn pipeline, which can be used to direct cross-border gas flows and to isolate the cathodic protection systems of the Estonian and Latvian gas transmission networks. A 260-metre section of the Vireši-Tallinn gas transmission pipeline near the Lilli pipeline intersection will be replaced.

The construction work will start this summer and will end according to the plan in summer 2019.