"Conexus to invest more than EUR 21 million to increase technical capacity of storage

As part of the further modernisation of the Inčukalns Underground Gas Storage (UGS) within the framework of the European investment project of common European interest, the single operator of the natural gas transmission and storage system Conexus Baltic Grid AS (Conexus) will install a new gas injection unit to increase the technical capacity of the storage facility, investing EUR 21.6 million in the project. The right to supply the equipment package was awarded to Solar Turbines Europe SA of Belgium following an open tender.  

The tender announced by Conexus in March this year provides that the successful tenderer will supply the gas injection unit package to the compressor shop of Inčukalns UGS, as well as develop the technical documentation necessary for the production of the gas injection unit package, install, commission, supervise the commissioning and train the employees of the new plant.

"Thanks to participation in European projects, the modernisation of the Inčukalns underground gas storage facility continues to strengthen the long-term safety and performance of the natural gas infrastructure. This year, the modernisation of three gas injection compressors will be fully completed, significantly improving the operation of the storage facility. Along with increasing the injection capacity of the gas injection units, the modernisation will reduce the amount of emissions released into the atmosphere, as well as the consumption of fuel gas," said Rinalds Dimiņš, CEO of Inčukalns Underground Gas Storage.

The procurement was carried out as part of the Inčukalns PGK modernisation project. Conexus has been implementing the project of common European interest since 2019 to strengthen the role of Inčukalns PGK as a modern and critical natural gas infrastructure not only in Latvia, but also in the Baltic and Finnish region. The total project financing is EUR 88 million, of which 50% is European co-financing.

The European Union projects are implemented under contracts with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency.