Deodorisation plant in Schwörstadt commissioned on schedule

The Schwörstadt deodorisation plant, which is a first in Europe, was commissioned on schedule in December 2020. It is located in the district of Lörrach (Baden-Württemberg) in the immediate vicinity of the Swiss border. During the course of commissioning, the technical inspection authority TÜV Süd completed its final acceptance tests. The plant was built in just under one and a half years and is designed to remove previously added odorant from up to 900,000 standard cubic metres of natural gas per hour.

The deodorisation plant is a joint project by Fluxys TENP GmbH and Open Grid Europe GmbH and part of a transnational flow reversal project. Flow reversal means that natural gas can be shipped in both directions, from north to south and vice versa. The plant helps to further increase flexibility on the Trans Europa Naturgas Pipeline (TENP) system by enabling the transmission of odorised natural gas from southern Europe, regardless of its origin.

The deodorisation plant strengthens security of supply in Germany and North-West Europe. Due to the European character of the TENP pipelines, which link up several countries, the deodorisation plant is recognised a Project of Common Interest and was therefore eligible for funding by the European Union under the watchful eye of the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA).

In France, natural gas is already odorised in the transmission system. In Germany, this is only done when it reaches the local distribution network, so before the gas can be transported through the German transmission network, it has to undergo processing to lower the odorant concentration. This is done at the Schwörstadt deodorisation plant.

The TENP pipeline system is a north-south and (since 2018) also a south-north connection for the transmission of natural gas through Europe. Stretching over some 500 kilometres, it runs from the German-Dutch border (near Aachen) to the German-Swiss border (near Wallbach). The owner of the pipeline system is TENP GmbH & Co. KG which is co-owned by Open Grid Europe (51 percent) and Fluxys TENP GmbH (49 percent). The TENP pipeline capacities are marketed by Open Grid Europe GmbH and Fluxys TENP GmbH.