Technical reliability for critical infrastructure
BENNING provides various power supplies for an important node in the European gas grid
The compressor station in the territory of the small town of Rimpar near Wuerzburg, Bavaria belongs to MEGAL GmbH & Co. KG and is operated by Open Grid Europe GmbH. It is an important hub in the German and European gas network, as a whole series of pipelines cross here, including the important MEGAL pipeline, the Central European Gas Pipeline. It connects Czechia and Austria with France and thus represents a crucial east-west or west-east connection in the European long-distance gas network. From the control centre of the station in Rimpar, the gas can be forwarded in other directions.*2/3
This profile alone illustrates the enormous importance of the Rimpar compressor station as part of the critical infrastructure.
In order to secure and expand this significance, the Gas Network Development Plan 2016 - 2026 of the Federal Network Agency (NEP 2016)*4 envisaged the construction of an additional compressor station at the Rimpar compressor site, which has existed since the 1980s.
This new addition to the station has received the new power supplies from BENNING as a functionally independent unit. The final acceptance took place in March 2023.
Whether from Norway, Belgium or the Netherlands: Gaseous energy sources are not only a cornerstone of the energy supply of today and tomorrow – they also ensure that the European gas grid remains indispensable in the long term. As an important node in this network, the recently built Rimpar*1 compressor station has now been equipped with various BENNING power supply systems for optimum protection against power failures.
No compaction without power supply
The demands on these systems are high. After all, there are also a lot of critical components working in a gas compressor station that depend on a secure power supply.
More specifically, these critical components are the measuring systems, the entire control technology, solenoid valves, emergency lighting as well as emergency and extinguishing water pumps, the entire network and telecommunication technology and, finally, safety-relevant air-conditioning units and fans.
If these systems were to stop working as a result of a power failure, the compressor station would no longer be operational – and that would have serious consequences for large parts of the long-distance gas network.
Safety as the top priority
To prevent this from happening, Open Grid Europe GmbH, on behalf of MEGAL GmbH & Co. KG has developed a detailed specification and launched it on the market. BENNING was able to win the bid.
The project requirements to be fulfilled were tailored to the specific requirements and demanded a high degree of adaptability from all potential suppliers. With its comprehensive product portfolio, BENNING was able to offer the customer, in line with this bid, a tailor-made solution at the highest level of performance and safety, combining the best of the worlds of monobloc and modular power supplies and especially adapted to the requirements at high power levels. The solution includes – as system elements in a monobloc design – two thyristor rectifiers (110 V / 1000 A) of the THYROTRONIC type, four three-phase 80 kVA inverters of the INVERTRONIC type and two single-phase 50 kVA INVERTRONIC inverters.
The rectifiers of the THYROTRONIC series used for stationary battery systems are operationally safe, reliable and powerful and have proven themselves thousands of times over. They are particularly suitable for use with battery-supported DC power supplies and offer a comprehensive signalling and monitoring concept in addition to the basic features mentioned.
The rectifiers operate with an electronically controlled output characteristic (IU characteristic according to DIN 41773) and are suitable for use with lead-acid and NiCd batteries as well as other modern battery technologies.
Inverters of the INVERTRONIC series are very robust single- and three-phase inverter systems for heavy-duty use in power plants, as well as the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. They offer the highest availability and maximum economic efficiency and are connected to secured (e.g. battery-supported) direct current grids and reliably supply critical loads with high quality electrical power.
The modular systems used are a 24 VDC / 1050 A rectifier of the type TEBECHOP 3000 HDi and two 48 VDC / 130 A DC converters of the type TEBECHOP 3000 HDiDC. The configuration is complemented by two additional cabinets and a total of four stationary lead-acid battery systems, two each with 110 V and two with 24 volts.
The TEBECHOP modular rectifier systems and DC converters are tailored to the industry’s requirements. They are performance-scalable, robust and economical, and have proven themselves many times over in the petrochemical industry, in power generation and distribution, as well as in automation and traffic engineering. Together with lead or NiCd batteries connected in parallel, these systems can be expanded to battery-supported backup power supplies.
Proximity and quality as winning factors
BENNING’s solution, as outlined here, won over MEGAL GmbH & Co. KG and Open Grid Europe GmbH for other reasons too: BENNING has years of experience as a supplier of power supply systems for the oil and gas industry. BENNING has a long-standing business relationship with Open Grid Europe and its predecessor E.ON Ruhrgas. The fact that BENNING systems are made in Germany was seen as an additional advantage.
Local proximity with short distances and fast response times from order processing and ongoing service to maintenance operations played an important role in Open Grid Europe GmbH’s selection. Of course, this also applies to the high quality of the components produced by BENNING in-house.
Future projects
High product quality and responsive, reliable service at competitive prices will continue to be the basis for joint projects between BENNING and Open Grid Europe in the future.
They will include the Federal Network Agency's Gas Network Development Plan 2016 - 2026. This plan specifies actions and measures for optimisation and reinforcement as well as expansion of the network in line with demand and to ensure security of supply.*5 Thus, by 2026 there will be various projects for the new construction and expansion or revision of compressor stations, gas pressure regulating and metering stations (GDRM) and other facilities important for gas storage and transport. BENNING will be involved in at least three of Open Grid Europe GmbH’s future projects - and thus contribute to maintaining the performance and reliability of the German gas distribution infrastructure.
Further Information
author/contact: Achim Pickardt
telephone: +49 2871 93 513
e-Mail: a.pickardt@benning.de
*1 Source: https://wuerzburgwiki.de/wiki/Verdichterstation_Rimpar
*2 Source: ebenda
*3 Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittel-Europäische_Gasleitung
*4 Source: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Sachgebiete/Energie/Unternehmen_Institutionen/NetzentwicklungUndSmartGrid/Gas/NEP_2016/NEPGas2016Final.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=1
*5 Source: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Sachgebiete/Energie/Unternehmen_Institutionen/NetzentwicklungUndSmartGrid/Gas/NEP_2016/NEPGas2016Final.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=1
POWER news, edition Q4/2023, customer magazine (german) 
