Belgian gas transmission network operator Fluxys and its French counterpart GRTgaz have inaugurated a new gas transmission connection between France and Belgium, between Pitgam (Nord) and Maldegem (Belgium). The project opens the first ever route for shippers to transport gas from France to Belgium, offering the opportunity to transport up to an extra 8 bcm/year and enhancing market integration as well as security of supply and diversification of sources. The gas link also makes the Belgian network entirely bidirectional: natural gas can now physically flow in both directions with all neighbouring markets.
The interconnection is part of an extensive development programme in Northern France for GRTgaz, that includes the 23-km-long Artère des Flandres gas pipeline, the €56m Hondschoote metering station on the French-Belgian border and the €30m reconfiguration of the Pitgam interconnection station. GRTgaz is also working on the gas network around the new Dunkerque LNG import terminal, which was connected to the gas grid in November 2015 and is expected to be commissioned in the summer 2016.
In Belgium, the project is supported by the construction of the Alveringem regulating station, a new interconnection station at Maldegem and a 75-km-long pipeline worth €100m between these two sites.