Munich, 11 May 2017. - This afternoon, accompanied by the Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs Ilse Aigner, bayernets GmbH performed the first groundbreaking ceremony in Markt Kraiburg am Inn (in the district of Mühldorf am Inn), which marks the beginning of construction works for the natural gas pipeline MONACO. The pipeline will run from the German-Austrian border in Burghausen to Finsing near Munich. By the time of the planned commissioning in the autumn of 2018, the Transmission System Operator will have invested approximately 200 million euros in the Bavarian natural gas infrastructure. The MONACO pipeline is currently one of the biggest pipeline construction projects for the gas industry in Germany.
“The MONACO pipeline will play a major role in the security of supply in Bavaria. It is true – we are making good progress in developing renewable energies. Nevertheless natural gas, as a safe fuel with low environmental impact, will maintain its special importance for the foreseeable future in order to mitigate the strong power fluctuations of renewable energy sources“, states the Minister of State Ilse Aigner (Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology).
“With the transmission pipeline MONACO, we are setting a clear signal in Bavaria for the future supply of natural gas in Germany. Additionally, we are making a significant contribution to realising the energy transition and to securing the supply of gas in our country“, explained Rainer Dumke, Managing Director of bayernets GmbH.
As a Transmission System Operator, bayernets is actively involved in determining the demand-based development of the natural gas grid in Germany. As an integral part of the Network Development Plan Gas, the MONACO pipeline is intended to secure the future shipping capacity demand in the grid region of bayernets. Overall, MONACO will meet the increasing demand for gas shipping capacity in Germany and Europe by connecting national and international transmission systems to the west and to the east.
The underground pipeline will run through the districts of Altötting, Mühldorf am Inn and Erding in the administrative region of Upper Bavaria. It will have a total length of approx. 87 kilometres and a nominal diameter of DN 1200. Further information about the MONACO pipeline is available at http://monaco.bayernets.de.
On the attached picture of the groundbreaking ceremony (from left to right): Dr. Herbert Heiml (First Mayor of Markt Kraiburg am inn), Rainer Dumke (Managing Director of bayernets GmbH), Minister of State Ilse Aigner (Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology), Dr. Marcel Huber (Head of the Bavarian State Chancellery) and Brigitta Brunner (President of the District Government of Upper Bavaria).