Preparations underway for the construction of the TENP III natural gas pipeline

• Working strip to be provided along pipeline route in the Palatinate Forest with logging of trees to start in November 2022
• Replacement of telecommunications cables
• TENP I pipe string in Rhineland-Palatinate to be replaced in 2023

The Trans-European Natural Gas Pipeline (TENP) system is one of the most important European pipeline links for the supply of natural gas. It runs for about 500 km from the German-Dutch border to the Swiss border and consists of two pipe strings, TENP I and TENP II.

From spring 2023, an existing 51 km section of TENP I between Mittelbrunn and Klingenmünster in Rhineland-Palatinate will have to be replaced. For technical reasons this replacement will involve the construction of an entirely new pipeline, which means that along this section TENP I will become TENP III. Almost 95 percent of the pipes will be replaced within the existing corridor. The TENP I pipes will be removed first, and the new TENP III pipeline will then be built almost entirely along the same route.

On 25 October 2022, the Structural and Approval Directorate of Northern Rhineland-Palatinate as the responsible approval authority issued its planning approval decision, thus giving the official go-ahead for the TENP III project. On 7 November, OGE as the organisation responsible for the safety and operation of the pipeline system will start preparing the working strip along the pipeline section in the Palatinate Forest. This will include, above all, clearing areas from vegetation. The working strip will be needed, among other things, for the delivery and removal of the pipes and for construction vehicles. The preparations are expected to take 12 weeks.

Interference with nature and the landscape will be kept to a minimum: For the working strip, priority will be given to areas where the construction work for TENP II took place. In forest areas, the existing forest aisles will be used.

For more information about TENP, look here.

Trans Europa Naturgas Pipeline GmbH & Co. KG is a subsidiary of the two gas transmission system operators Open Grid Europe GmbH and Fluxys TENP GmbH. OGE has been commissioned to provide the general engineering services for the TENP III expansion project.