How does natural gas get to us?

The long and demanding route for natural gas coming to our households covers more than 4, 000 kilometres. In spite of that, gas is available for us 24 hours a day, 365 days per year regardless of the season of the year, weather conditions, or changing demands for the volume of gas. To do these important tasks, SPP has two subsidiary companies: eustream, a.s – the transmission system operator and SPP – distribúcia, a.s. – the distribution system operator

“Eustream” means the European highway for gas from Russia

The trade name “Eustream” reflects the core activity of eustream, a. s. Company--international natural gas transmission —meaning an uninterrupted stream of natural gas not only to Slovakia but to other European markets as well.

Natural gas is transported in two basic ways – through gas pipelines or in tankers in the form of liquefied gas. A dense system of international gas pipelines crisscross Europe and is ever-growing. Operating pressures in the newest gas pipelines are as much as 100 bar (10 MPa) and pipeline diameters frequently exceed 1 m. Long distance gas pipelines can be on ground levels and also on sea beds -- that is how natural gas from the North Sea and Africa travels to the European continent. Transmission of natural gas the long distances between the points of extraction and points of final consumption is the most economically demanding element of gas transportation.

The capacity of the Eustream transmission system exceeds 90 billion cubic metres of natural gas and the pipelines’ length is 2,270 km. The Slovak segment of the international gas transmission system is inter-connected with the main European transmission systems and is reliably serving major gas companies.

In addition to natural gas transmission eustream a.s. company also takes care of operation and maintenance of compressor stations and line sections of the gas transmission pipelines through four areas (Veľké Kapušany, Jablonov nad Turňou, Veľké Zlievce and Ivanka pri Nitre). The transmission system is managed by gas industry dispatchers in Nitra.

Distribution of natural gas by SPP – distribúcia, a.s. Company

SPP – distribúcia, a.s. Company is the operator and owner of the distribution system – the gas pipelines in SR, including technological facilities, natural gas regulation stations and the central gas industry dispatch centre. It also covers sale of distribution capacity, development, operations and maintenance of gas industry systems. SPP distribúcia, a.s. ensures reliable natural gas distribution from the transportation system via distribution gas facilities in the Slovak Republic through to its customers and it also ensures user connections to the distribution system and readings of natural gas consumption.

Gas leaving the long distance transportation system travels to national distribution systems via transfer stations. The transfer stations have regulation stations which decrease the pressure of the gas to levels used in the operation of domestic gas pipeline systems in the respective countries. From there, natural gas is delivered directly to customers or to towns and villages with a gas supply.

Natural gas is brought to individual municipalities via high-pressure gas pipeline systems. Gas pressure is first reduced there by regulation stations. Distribution lines in municipalities may be low-pressure lines (gas pressure is suitable for use by gas appliances and does not need to be adjusted any further) or medium-pressure lines. Individual off-takers taking gas from medium-pressure distribution lines must have their own regulators which adjust gas pressure to the requirements for problem-free operation of gas appliances. The higher system capacity is the advantage of medium-pressure distribution lines.

Underground storage

An important constituent part of our domestic gas system is underground gas storage facilities. Seasonal storage facilities are used to level out differences between summer and winter gas consumption. Spare gas is stored in these facilities in the summer months. That gas is then successively drawn down and added into the distribution system in months when deliveries from suppliers are not sufficient to cover the full demand. Exploited gas and crude oil deposits or other underground storage facilities built in porous layers (so-called aquifer storage) are used for this purpose. Peak storage facilities are used primarily to cover several days of maximum consumption or to level swings in demand within short time periods. In contrast to the seasonal storage facilities, the peak facilities have small storage capacity but large daily draw downs. The advantage of peak storage facilities is that they can again be filled to their maximum capacities during times of low consumption even during the heating season.