The Nabucco Pipeline Project

CCRES promotes Nabucco Project

Nabucco is the new gas bridge from Asia to Europe and the flagship project in the Southern Corridor. It will be a pipeline to connect the world’s richest gas regions - the Caspian region and Middle East - to the European consumer markets.

The pipeline will link the Eastern border of Turkey, to Baumgarten in Austria - one of the most important gas turntables in Central Europe - via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. When completed the 3,900 km pipeline’s annual capacity will be 31 bcm. The construction of the pipeline is supported by the 2009 Intergovernmental Agreement signed in Ankara in July 2009, which harmonises the legal framework and grants stable and equal transport conditions for all partners and customers.

It is widely acknowledged that Central and Western Europe will face a considerable shortfall in its energy supply over the next two decades, with gas prices expected to increase as domestic production declines. Consequently, it is crucial that new infrastructure be established to meet further demand and ensure both security of supply and supply diversification.

The main pipeline will be built in one phase. Construction will start in 2013, first gas will flow in 2017.

Key stakeholders announce that as long as there is uncertainty over the gas supply sources, a final investment decision on Nabucco gas pipeline project cannot be made.
MOL’s CEO Mr Jozsef Molnar said that "For the time being, there is no obvious source of gas and there is also much uncertainty about the volume of the necessary investments. As such we can't even begin to discuss the project's returns."
MOL is a 100% owner of FGSZ Natural Gas Transmission Company, which is one of the six shareholders in Nabucco gas pipeline project. The project is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and Middle East to Europe. The project's other partners include Bulgarian Energy Holding, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas, Austrian OMV and German RWE.
The main source for the Nabucco project is gas produced at the Shah Deniz II gas condensate field development in Azerbaijan. In addition to this, recently an official representative of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International said that the project's consortium considers northern Iraqi gas as an option to secure future gas supply to Europe.
The Shah Deniz consortium's official representative also stated that Nabucco submitted the project's new conception, according to which the pipeline will be laid from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to Baumgarten in Austria. The original pipeline’s route was expected to run through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria over a distance of 3900 km.

Total length	3,900 km
Capacity	31bcm/ year
Pressure	100bar
Total Investment	EUR 7.9 billio (Currently under review)

• Pipeline starts at the Georgian/Turkish and the Iraqi/Turkish border, and finishes in Baumgarten near Vienna, crossing Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.
• Sections in the partner countries:

	Turkey:	2,581 km
	Bulgaria:	412 km
	Romania:	469 km
	Hungary:	384 km
	Austria:	47 km

• Construction will start end of 2013, first gas will flow end of 2017
• Gas will be supplied from the Caspian Region and Middle-East
• Nabucco’s financing strategy will consist of 30% equity and 70% debt financing  
• There are six Nabucco shareholders: Bulgarian Energy Holding (Bulgaria), Botas (Turkey), FGSZ (Hungary), OMV (Austria), RWE (Germany), Transgaz (Romania)
• Nabucco will require 250,000 pipes and over two million tons of steel, along with several pieces of specialist equipment. This will help boost the European economy
• Nabucco’s construction will directly create thousands of new jobs and many more via the multiplier effect. This will support the European labour market
• Nabucco is the largest European infrastructure project in terms of countries involved. This will support European Integration
• When operating at full capacity, Nabucco will transport 1,550 bcm to Europe over the next 50 years. This means that an economy the size of Germany could be supplied solely with Nabucco gas for over 16 years. Nabucco will make a considerable contribution to the security of supply for Europe

The route selection is a complex process, which needs to take into account the impact of construction on the environment, minimise the disruption to local communities, respect construction targets and deadlines and ensure the financial viability of the project. The following considerations were central to the decision-making process:

• Avoiding areas of high population density
• Avoiding areas of nature conservation and cultural heritage value
• Avoiding difficult terrain as much as possible
• Reducing the overall length of the pipeline as much as possible
• Minimising the impact on long term investment crops
• Minimising security risks
• Minimising cost

NIC has made full use of existing pipelines and energy corridors in order to reduce the impact of construction and avoid opening up virgin territory. A full range of surveys was carried out, including ground investigations, geological, archaeological, ecological, social and climatology assessments. The results are being analysed and mitigation plans shall be put into place where needed.
The route of the Nabucco pipeline stretches from Turkey to Austria, crossing Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.

1. Turkey
The Turkish part of the pipeline starts in Ahiboz, south of Ankara and will continue westwards to the Bulgarian border, across the Central Anatolian Plain and the Marmara Sea, and through the towns of Inegol, Yuluce, Kirklareli and Kofcas.  The terrain is variable, mainly low level plains and gentle elevations on the eastern side of the Marmara Sea with higher elevations before the border into Bulgaria. 75% of the route in this section will follow existing pipeline routes. This section is 2,581 km long.

2. Bulgaria
The Bulgarian element of the route stretches up towards the existing compressor station at Lozenets, before crossing the Stara Planina mountain range to the North of the country. It follows a section of the existing east-west pipeline before crossing into Romania under the Danube. The landscape is more contrasted in Bulgaria and the pipeline will cross active fault lines. 50 % of the route in this section will follow existing pipeline routes. This section is 412 km long.

3. Romania
The pipeline follows the south western border of Romania and travels through the counties of  Dolj, Mehedinti, Caras-Severin,Timis and Arad. The terrain is rockier in Romania and mainly constituted of limestone. This section is 469 km long.

4. Hungary
The proposed route in Hungary follows existing pipeline corridors for approximately 52% of its distance. It includes several river crossings, with substantial flood protection barriers. The region is characterised by low lying, gently rolling terrain with vast arable and sunflower crops. This section is 384 km long.

5. Austria
The Austrian element of the route covers 47km and follows existing pipeline corridors along the Eastern border, across the Danube, towards Baumgarten. 90% of the route in this section will follow existing pipeline routes.

 

Croatian Center of Renewable Energy Sources (CCRES) 

special thanks to

Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH (NIC)

+43 (1) 27777-200

Floridotower
Floridsdorfer Hauptstraße 1
1210 Vienna
Austria