Major construction project completed :
115 km long gas pipeline to Lolland-Falster is ready for operation

Lolland-Falster is now ready to be connected to the Danish gas grid. The construction of the 115 km long gas pipeline Grøn Gas Lolland-Falster has thus reached its conclusion and is ready to be put into operation. This is stated in a statement by Evida and Energinet, who have jointly been responsible for the construction work.

- It is a great day when you reach the finish line with a project of this size. We have helped connect Lolland-Falster to the Danish gas grid and thus paved the way for further development in the area. Not only can the local business community now be supplied with gas. The new gas pipeline also makes it possible to send biogas from Lolland-Falster to other parts of the country, says Jeppe Danø, Deputy Director of Business and Markets at Energinet and chairman of the project's steering committee.

Initially, the pipeline will supply gas to Nordic Sugar's two factories in Nykøbing Falster and Nakskov. By switching from coal and oil to gas, the company can significantly reduce its CO2 emissions, as natural gas emits 40 percent less CO2 than coal. In the long term, it will also be possible to connect local biogas plants to the pipeline, which will further reduce CO2 emissions.

If delays were eliminated, not cost increases

The project was decided by the government in early 2021. This was followed by work on environmental assessments, archaeological surveys and planning of the project, before the first sod was turned in early 2023.

The project was originally estimated to cost 792 million DKK, but along the way it turned out to be over 660 million DKK more expensive. This is an increase of almost 84 percent. This led, among others, the Danish Radical Party to criticize the decision to build the gas pipeline. However, the political support for the project did not disappear. That is why the project has also kept to schedule.

The approximately 115-kilometer extension of the gas system has been connected to the existing gas network on Zealand at Everdrup. Energinet has been responsible for the section from Zealand to Nørre Alslev on Falster and the three waterway crossings, while Evida has been responsible for the remaining sections from Nørre Alslev to Nakskov.

- There are many preparations involved in such a large construction project as Grøn Gas Lolland-Falster, which for Evida is the largest expansion of the gas system in recent times. Despite challenges with, among other things, large amounts of rain during the construction phase, we have been able to deliver the project on time, says Kim Søgård Bering Kristensen, CEO of Evida.

Now that the gas pipeline is ready for operation, the project is nearing completion. In the near future, the last borrowed areas will be returned to the landowners, after which the project can be closed down.

Nordic Sugar is currently working to get the last installations in place at the two factories in Nakskov and Nykøbing Falster and can then start receiving the gas in time for this year's beet campaign, which is the factories' peak season.

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