
Thursday, July 25, 2013
ABB was awarded an EPC contract for a new LPG pumping station in the Hassi Messaoud District to increase the capacity of the LR1 pipeline in Algeria. The contract was awarded by Sonatrach and is valued at $100 million. The order was booked in Q4 2012.
The new pumping station is part of an expansion project to add a second LPG pipeline between Haoud El Hamra and Hassi R’Mel in order to boost pipeline transportation capacity from 4.5 million tons a year to 11 million tons a year. From Hassi R’Mel the gas is transported by pipeline to terminals on the Mediterranean coast for export to Europe or for processing into liquefied natural gas.
ABB is responsible for design, engineering, procurement, commissioning and start-up. Construction and installation will be performed by Sarpi, a 50% JV company owned by ABB and Sonatrach.
ABB will also supply a complete LPG pumping station including all the electrical, piping, and mechanical equipment. The solution encompasses a broad range of ABB power and automation products and systems including switchgear, transformers, motors, variable speed drive systems, instrumentation, distributed control and safety systems, as well as a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for the new 400-km pipeline. The plant is scheduled for completion by March 2015.
“This contract confirms ABB’s capabilities to execute EPC projects for the oil and gas industry and underlines once again our strong relationship with Sonatrach in Algeria,” said Enrico Di Maria ABB’s Region and Local Process Automation division Manager. “This ongoing cooperation indicates that ABB is going in the right direction – coupling new technologies with local expertise to make our customers more competitive.”