The BBL Pipeline (Balgzand Bacton Line, BBL) is a

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

interconnector An interconnector (also known as a DC tie in the USA) is a structure which enables high voltage DC electricity to flow between electrical grids. An electrical interconnector allows electricity to flow between separate AC networks, or to link sy ...

between the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

History

Laying the pipeline between the

compressor station A compressor station is a facility which helps the transportation process of natural gas from one location to another. Natural gas, while being transported through a gas pipeline, needs to be periodically pressurized at intervals of . Siting is de ...

at the Balgzand Gas Plant at Grasweg in

Anna Paulowna Anna Paulowna () is a former municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The former municipality derives its name from the Anna Paulownapolder, which was laid dry in 1846 during the reign of King William II of ...

(province of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

) and

Bacton Gas Terminal The Bacton Gas Terminal is a complex of six gas terminals within four sites located on the North Sea coast of North Norfolk in the United Kingdom. The sites are near Paston and between Bacton and Mundesley; the nearest town is North Walsham. T ...

started on 14 July 2006. The pipeline became operational on 1 December 2006.

Technical description

The overall length of pipeline is of which around is offshore. The pipeline's diameter is and working pressure is . The initial capacity is 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, which will be increased to 19.2 bcm by the end of 2010 by installing a fourth compressor at the compressor station at Anna Paulowna. The pipeline has a regulatory exemption from the two-ways gas flow until October 2018. Until this, the direction of gas flow is from the Netherlands to the UK. The overall cost of the project was around

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

500 million.

Operating company

The BBL was developed and operated by the BBL Company. The main shareholder of the company is

Gasunie N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie (short form: Gasunie) is a Dutch natural gas infrastructure and transportation company operating in the Netherlands and Germany. Gasunie owns the Netherlands gas transmission network with a total length of over and long ...

with 60% of the shares, and Enagas and

Fluxys Fluxys is a Belgium-based company, mainly acting as a natural gas transmission system operator. In 2004, it employed around 850 people and its infrastructure comprised about of pipelines and a terminal in Zeebrugge, Belgium. The company is lis ...

both own 20%.

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...

had an option for 9%, in exchange for a 9% share of

Nord Stream AG Nord Stream AG is a consortium for construction and operation of the Nord Stream 1 submarine pipeline between Vyborg in Russia and Greifswald in Germany. The consortium was incorporated in Zug, Switzerland, on 30 November 2005. The original name ...

. The BBL Pipeline would allow Gazprom to supply additional gas to the British market through the

Nord Stream 1 Nord Stream (German-English mixed expression; german: Nord and en, Stream, literally 'North Stream'; russian: Северный поток, ''Severny potok'') is a pair of offshore natural gas pipelines in Europe that run under the Baltic Sea ...

pipeline.

References

External links

BBL Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bbl Pipeline Energy infrastructure completed in 2006 Natural gas pipelines in the Netherlands Natural gas pipelines in the United Kingdom Netherlands–United Kingdom relations North Sea energy Pipelines under the North Sea Uniper 2006 establishments in England 2006 establishments in the Netherlands

History

Technical description

Operating company

See also

References

External links