External construction site

The Belgian part of the gas pipeline which will link Dunkirk to Zeebrugge, under construction

12/06/15

It is a huge project, currently led by Fluxys*, between Alveringem (next to Hondschoote) and Maldegem (to the east of Bruges). The company is building the Belgian part of the gas pipeline there, which will link the Dunkirk LNG terminal with that of Zeebrugge, a section of 74 km. 500 people are working on it under very special conditions, since the site crosses and old frontline from the First World War where there is still much military equipment, including shells.

In February 2015, Fluxys undertook the construction of the Belgian part of the gas pipeline which will link the Pitgam compression station to the Zeebrugge gas terminal. "We are taking over from GRTgaz, which built the French part between the Loon-Plage LNG terminal, the Pitgam compression station and the Belgian border in the region of Honschoote", says Laurent Rémy, Fluxys spokesperson. "That is 74 km between Alveringem and Maldegem, to the east of Bruges". This gas pipeline will then be linked to the RTR** network which crosses Belgium east to west from the Zeebrugge LNG terminal. "The capacity of this new pipeline will be 8 billion m3 per year" says Laurent Rémy. "The natural gas sent from France via the LNG terminal will thus supply the Belgian market (whose annual consumption of gas is 16 billion m3) but not just the Belgian market. A large part will be redistributed to Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom". This huge project, which 500 employees are working on, required several months preparation, due to its unique conditions. It crosses an old frontline from the First World War 30 km around Ypres. "We have already found over 10,000 items. Some, such as the shells, have to be dealt with by the bomb disposal experts, who stop work on the site for the duration of their operations. Of course we had to take account of these contingencies and that's why the preparatory work (bomb disposal and archaeological research) started in June 2014", says Laurent Rémy. Costing between €110m and €130m, the project is expected to be concluded in November 2015, just before the Dunkirk LNG terminal starts operating. 

*Belgian natural gas transport and storage company, responsible for operating the Zeebrugge LNG terminal and 25% shareholder of Dunkirk LNG.

** RTR: pipeline linking Zeebrugge to Zelzate (interconnection with the Dutch networks) and Eynatten (interconnection with the German networks)