Damage to newly constructed natural gas pipeline in Schleswig-Holstein
At the end of November 2023, several leaks were detected in the Pinneberg area during the pressure test of the pipeline under construction, which connects the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Brunsbüttel with the existing gas network.
Gasunie immediately informed the police authorities and all relevant stakeholders at state and federal level about the incidents. The relevant authorities are investigating in all directions. Currently, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office has taken over the investigation.
Gasunie has taken all the necessary technical measures to complete the pipeline. In the meantime, all defects have been localised and the majority have already been repaired. Work on repairing the few remaining defects will begin in the next few days, weather conditions permitting. At the same time, the general contractor will resume work as planned after the planned interruption to construction at the turn of the year in order to lay the remaining approx. 300 metres of pipe. For months, the weather conditions and the high volume of water have posed a challenge to the scheduled construction process. Once the entire pipeline has been completed, it will be subjected to an additional inspection. We plan to be able to put the pipeline into operation in February.
The feed-in of the currently possible maximum LNG volumes from the floating terminal in Brunsbüttel continues to be secured via a gas pipeline around three kilometres long between the LNG terminal and the regional gas distribution network in Schleswig-Holstein, so that security of supply will not be affected by a delay in the commissioning of the newly built pipeline until February 2024.