Romgaz SA has put into service the new installation of the compression and dehydration plant of Sărmăşel (county of Mureş). The investment of over RON 238 million (approximatively EUR 54 million) has been implemented during the last three years for an increased Romanian storage capacity of 3.3 billion Ncm/cycle and an enhanced gas withdrawal capacity of a maximum flow rate of 30 million Ncm/day.
The new compression and dehydration facility of the Sărmăşel storage will allow the increase of the UGS storage capacity from 800 million Ncm (normal cubic meters) to 950 million Ncm, enhancement of gas quality to be delivered, as well as the increase of the gas delivery capacity from 6 to 9 million Ncm/ day.
The compression and dehydration plant is equipped with state-of-the-art US technology provided by General Electric, featuring low energy consumption and complying with all European and national requirements in the field of environmental protection.
For such investment projects, the usual recovery period of time exceeds 10 to 20 years, but the economic grounds were just part of the justification. For better operational safety and for abiding the environmental musts, the old compression plant had to be decommissioned after operating for more than 50 years.
After this investment, Romgaz has an even more important role in an increased performance from the national natural gas system, in shaving of consumption peaks demanded by the market, caused by temperature variation, as well as maintaining the best operation features of the national gas transmission system.
The underground storages play a strategic role in ensuring gas supply during extraordinary conditions, and also prepare the national natural gas system for the moment when interconnections with neighboring gas pipelines network will demand increased technical capabilities for import and export.
