The experts from BIS VAM Anlagentechnik assembled a total of 1,700 tons of equipment and 850 tons of piping to construct the central station and the two compressor units. The piping has nominal sizes of between 0.5 and 24 inches and a pressure of more than 200 bar, with a maximum flowthrough rate of 250,000 standard cubic metres per hour. Awarded by Rohölaufsuchungsgesellschaft (RAG), the contract was worth around EUR 20 million.
One particular challenge proved to be the construction of the link between Stage II and the Stage I storage facility, which is already in operation. Roughly 100 connection points were created under what in some cases were extremely difficult conditions without sacrificing safety, environmental aspects and the protection of the existing facility. As a result of the Stage II assembly work, the storage capacity built in Stage I has now doubled to 2.4 billion standard cubic metres of working gas, sufficient to cover around one third of total Austrian requirements per year. Stage I had also been completed by technicians from BIS VAM Anlagentechnik.
For Gerhard Schmidt, a member of the BIS Group’s Executive Board, the completion of this contract provides further proof of the company’s high level of expertise in the field of plant construction for the energy sector: “BIS VAM Anlagentechnik GmbH is one of the leading European companies in industrial plant engineering, pipework construction, apparatus, vessel and tank as well as penstocks and hydraulic steel structure. We are proud to have been chosen by RAG to assemble Europe’s second largest gas storage facility and are pleased that the work has been completed successfully by our specialists.”
The energy sector is one of the main industries served by BIS VAM Anlagentechnik in its activities. “We work on gas distribution and hydropower projects as well as district heat systems,” says August Oberdorfer, the company’s Managing Director and Executive Vice President of the BIS Group. Thus, the company has recently been involved in the construction of the Haiming-Haidach gas pipelines and seven fields in Austria. As well as this, BIS VAM assembled the gas pipe storage and compressor facilities in Ahrensfelde and Thyrow in Germany. One hydropower project which it is currently working on is the new Reißeck II pumped-storage station in Kärnten.