Transmission Network News

Bulgartransgaz, the operator of the national natural gas transmission network of Bulgaria, has officially taken a 20% share in Greek company Gastrade that is developing an LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) offshore Alexandroupolis. The agreement for Bulgartransgaz to take a 20 percent stake in Gastrade was signed back in August 2020. Following the approval granted by the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition, the transaction became effective on Thursday, January 28.

Elengy, a unit of the French energy company and LNG player Engie, reported record activities at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals during 2018.The French LNG operator said in a press release thatits Montoir-de-Bretagne terminal also reached a number of milestones during the year. Elengy and its subsidiary Fosmax LNG berthed 215 vessels  at its facilities, with 106 TWh of natural gas delivered to the transmission network, a 13 percent jump on 2017 figures, it said.It reported 21 LNG transshipment operations (berth to berth) and 19 reloading of standard LNG carriers (from shore to vessel). It loaded 843 trucks,  registering an increase of 50 % on 2017.The 2018 figures for the Montoir-de-Bretagne LNG terminal…

The global floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) market is expected to post a CAGR of over 9% during the period 2018 – 2022, said a market research report. However, the growth momentum of the market is expected to decelerate during the year-over-year growth.According to a report from Technavio, stabilisation of crude oil prices is one of the major trends being witnessed in the global FSRU market 2018 – 2022.From 2014 to 2016, crude oil prices have witnessed fluctuations with steep variations in the price of crude oil per barrel, even though the market did not observe any reduction in the quantity of crude oil supplied across the…

The Port of Gothenburg has launched the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in an effort to open up new opportunities for LNG-fuelled ships. "Construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility is now under way at the Port of Gothenburg. The facility will open up new opportunities for LNG-fuelled ships that call at the Gothenburg Energy Port. It will become fully operational during 2018," said a statement from the company. LNG is currently the cleanest marine fuel available to major shipping companies. The use of LNG as a fuel reduces emissions of sulphur, particles and heavy metals to a minimum. Emissions of nitric oxide are reduced by 80 per cent. The EU has already highlighted LNG as a key marine fuel for the future.

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, announces the successful commissioning of the submarine power cable link to connect Negros and Panay islands in the Philippines. This is the first stage of the project CNP-1 (Cebu-Negros-Panay phase 1), awarded to Prysmian Group by the Filipino grid operating company NGCP (National Grid Corporation of the Philippines). This project is part of a larger development plan provided by NGCP, to strengthen the Country’s power transmission network. “Prysmian was honored with the award of this project in December 2014 and it has been able to execute the whole works in accordance with the delivery schedule and budget thanks to the close cooperation of NGCP…

ABB has designed, manufactured, installed and commissioned a 1,200-kilovolt (kV) circuit breaker the highest AC voltage level in the world. Once the 1200 kV ultrahigh-voltage switchgear is fully operational, it will have a switching capacity of 10,400 megawatts -  a switch capable of turning ‘ON’ or ‘OFF’ the electricity generated by 10 large power plants or the combined average annual electrical load of Switzerland and Denmark, within milliseconds. The circuit breaker is deployed at the 1,200 kV national test station constructed by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL), India’s central transmission utility, at Bina in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

ABB has supplied a uniquely integrative multisystem automation solution for the new Medgaz gas pipeline that connects North Africa’s largest gas producer with the gas transmission networks of Europe. The 210 kilometer pipeline connects the gas fields of Algeria, the region’s largest gas producer, with the gas transmission networks of Spain and southwestern Europe. It delivers up to 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year, and will in time be expanded with a second pipeline to double transmission capacity to 16 billion cubic meters a year.

Greater Gabbard wind farm, which is reportedly the second largest offshore wind farm in the world, costing £1.3 billion and generating enough clean electricity to power over half a million homes, was officially opened off the coast of Suffolk by the Energy and Business Minister Michael Fallon. Greater Gabbard has 140 turbines and will double in size once the Galloper wind farm extension is completed in 2017. Offshore wind has the potential to provide enough clean power for 11 million homes in the U.K. by the end of this decade, creating 30,000 jobs and contributing £7 billion to the economy.

Vosper Thornycroft (VT) announces that it has agreed to acquire Merlin for approximately $136 million USD ($94 million GBP). Merlin’s principal business is the facilities management of communications operations, primarily for the BBC in relation to the BBC World Service and for the Ministry of Defense (MOD). It also operates a global short wave and medium wave transmission network. Merlin will complement and extend VT’s existing skills and experience in the provision of technical services and is and important step towards VT’s target to more than double turnover from its support services business over the next 3 financial years. For the year ended March 31, 2001, Merlin reported operating profit, excluding a business to be discontinued, of $7.2 million on turnover of $74.6 million.

In a story reported by CNN, Britain's biggest solar-powered boat debuted Tuesday on a lake in London's Hyde Park. The Serpentine SolarShuttle -- powered entirely by the sun -- cruises at 5 miles per hour and carries 42 passengers. Almost no pollutants are given off during the trip because the shuttle has two silent engines -- meaning there are no carbon emissions and it is also charged fully by the sun. It is expected the boat will save nearly 5,000 pounds of carbon-dioxide per year, compared with a diesel boat of a similar size, according to Gavin Gomes, a spokesman for Sputnik Communications, a London-based energy company. When the ferry is idle, surplus electricity generated by the solar panels will be fed back into the national transmission network.

Singtel has announced that it has launched its Maritime VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminals) service which will enable the maritime community to use high-speed two-way IP broadband satellite communications services between ship and shore. With the service, maritime companies can integrate their IT applications onboard ships with their offices at shore via IP. The service supports e-mail, web browsing, fax and VoIP via an IP broadband satellite transmission network. Coverage for the service will initially be available for the Asia Pacific region. Source: Wireless Insight

One of the most innovative maritime communications developments in recent years has been launched by telecom systems integrator, Invsat, with the introduction of a broadband data application communications solution configured to offer DAMA (Demand Assigned Multiple Access) protocol, which Invsat developed to operate initially on Loral Skynet’s Telstar 12 satellite. DAMA is typically a single-hop satellite transmission network that allows direct connection between any two nodes in the network among many users sharing a dedicated “pool” of satellite transponder space. With DAMA, customers sign up to a service level agreement (SLA) and can opt for a number of flexible usage bands, reflecting the size of their network. Subscribers also pay network maintenance.