NGlobal Magazin 01-2010

Niedersachsen Global www.nglobal.de 24 Energy oped and made in the picturesque little town of Celle where the Texan company, a worldwide leader in its field, has its European headquarters. A Washing Machine for Natural Gas The extraction of natural gas is, however, only the first step in the process. The gas cannot be used in the form in which it is brought to the surface. Espe- cially in the South Oldenburg area, the gas is located in 250 million-year-old-reservoirs whose Zechstein layers frequently contain hydrogen sulphide. In the Großenkneten gas processing plant this so-called sour gas is washed and thereby the hydrogen sulphide is removed. The processing still leaves five billion cubic metres of pure natural gas, enough to cover two mil- lion households’ annual requirements. The facility, built in 1972, is considered as one of the most environmentally friendly plants for processing natural gas in the world. Its rate of conversion is 99.8 percent — the highest rate achieved so far in indus- trial applications. On top of that, the plant is one of the most important producers of natural gas sulphur worldwide: some 800,000 tons are sold every year, mainly to the chemical industry. The Largest Storage Space in western Europe Not only is Niedersachsen a leader for the extraction and purification of natural gas, it is also home to the largest storage facilities in western Europe. To balance consumption that undergoes seasonal and daily fluc- tuations, natural gas is being stored in huge cham- bers. “In addition, the storage space keeps us on the safe side should supplies be interrupted as they were during the Russian-Ukranian gas dispute last year,” explains Prime Minister Christian Wulff. The gas is stored in so-called caverns, these are washed out cy- lindrical hollow spaces in salt formations a few hun- dred metres below the earth, or in former oil and gas deposits, like in the pore-space store in Rehden. In the marshland surrounding the 1,900 inhabitants living in the hamlet of Rehden, extraction of natural gas stopped 18 years ago. Today the former reservoir is operated by Wingas and Wintershall as the largest storage area in western Europe. It extends over the sizeable space of eight square kilometres. At a depth of 2,000 metres and enclosed in rock stratum 20 to 30 metres deep, there is enough gas to supply two million single family houses for one year. Deepening Research To keep the caverns — for now at least — filled, it is necessary to develop and build on the existing know- how. As Dr. Kalkoffen puts it, “as a high-tech com- pany we have an ongoing demand for flexible, highly qualified engineers and scientists, human resources that enable us to face the complex technological chal- lenges of tomorrow’s energy supplies.” Clausthal Uni- versity of Technology (TU Clausthal) has become an important partner for the federal state’s natural gas industry offering support both in terms of training and research. The University’s Institute of Petroleum Engi- neering (Institut für Erdöl- und Erdgastechnik, ITE) is the only German academic research centre in the field of natural gas technology, the Technical University of Freiberg taken aside. And, what is more, the Clausthal Institute founded another hotbed of research earlier this year. Now 80 scientists from the universities of Göttingen, Hannover, Braunschweig and Oldenburg are pooling Niedersachsen’s research competence at the Energieforschungszentrum Niedersachsen (EFZN) in Goslar. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the spe- cialists are expected to further deepen research along the energy chain. A Touch of Texas Many many decades ago, at a time when Hannover was still a kingdom, a German professor went looking for brown coal in the village of Wietze near Celle—and found crude oil. And that even a few months before what was, probably, the first commercial drilling for crude oil in the U.S. state of Penn- sylvania. The Celle area was at the time considered the German centre of crude oil. Then the “Wietze Tar” was practically scooped by hand. Today it takes innovative technology to extract the precious raw material—for ex- ample steam flood technology as it is used in Emlichheim. In 2008, fields in Niedersachsen yielded a total of 1,063,091 tons of the black gold. This is just a small part of the required amount—still, having the resource available at one’s doorstep does convey a sense of comfort and security. The service industry is represented with big names: Baker Hughes, Itag and Halliburton in Celle, Schlumberger in Vechta and KCA Deutag in Bad Bentheim. Photo: Wintershall Photo: Wintershall ›