2023-11-06 16:52:07
Vienna (OTS) – In a press release, the WAG Loop project is called for to be accelerated and completed by the first quarter of 2025. Incomprehensible assumptions were made, which we clarify below.
Gas Connect Austria started the project immediately following the “WAG Loop 1” project was included in E-Control’s long-term planning and made advance payments.
In advance, because although the project and costs were approved by E-Control as sensible for the network, this does not mean that its financing and cost-bearing are guaranteed. Due to the current tariff system, there is indeed a very large financial risk for the GCA.
Due to the lack of appropriate transport bookings, earning back the money to be invested cannot be secured in advance, as is usual. However, the currently necessary expansion of the WAG is necessary for regional security of supply and must therefore be assessed and financed differently than usual. Corresponding discussions are currently underway with E-Control, the authority responsible for setting tariffs for the GCA. There is currently neither a state guarantee nor funding for insurance.
The time dimension (12-15 months) presented in the broadcast appears unrealistic. From GCA’s experience with other pipeline projects, it is not realistic to complete the project by the first quarter of 2025. The necessary official approval process alone takes at least a year. With an extremely ambitious approach, the production of steel pipes and their laying cannot be expected to be completed before the end of 2026.
The temporal comparison with the construction of an LNG connection line in Germany is also “lagging”, as the so-called LNG Acceleration Act was passed in Germany specifically for the expansion, which also includes exceptions for the EIA procedure, the Nature Conservation Act and similar. contains laws. The ministry has not yet initiated anything like this in Austria. A different tariff system also applies in Germany, which actually guarantees that the costs will be recovered.
With regard to the design and financing of projects, according to unbundling, Gas Connect Austria is independent of the majority owner association mentioned in the broadcast.
Details regarding the project can be found here:
https://www.gasconnect.at/aktuelles/projekte/wag-loop-1
About Gas Connect Austria GmbH:
Gas Connect Austria is a gas transmission and distribution network operator headquartered in Vienna. The company employs 288 people and is anchored at 6 locations in Vienna, Lower Austria and Upper Austria. Starting from the Baumgarten node, Gas Connect Austria operates a modern and powerful high-pressure network with connections to Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary as well as to storage and production facilities. There are 5 compressor stations, 40 measuring and transfer stations and over 100 transfer measuring points along the 900 kilometer long pipeline system. The core business is the marketing of transport capacities at international border points and for domestic gas supplies. Gas Connect Austria deals intensively with issues relating to the energy transition at national and European level and is actively working on solutions for decarbonization. The company is 51% owned by VERBUND, 49% is held in a 60:40 ratio by Allianz Capital Partners and SNAM. Gas Connect Austria holds stakes in AGGM, AGCS, TAG GmbH and PRISMA and is a member of ENTSOG, GIE, Hydrogen Europe, Clean Hydrogen Alliance and the European Hydrogen Backbone Initiative.
Questions & Contact:
Questions & Contact:
Media contact: publicrelations@gasconnect.at, Tel.-No. 0043-1-27500-88052
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