- Execution of practical maintenance work at six natural gas storage sites
- More than a decade of cooperation in a spirit of partnership
- Award for Bilfinger’s sustainable cleaning system at Storengy’s safety competition
Bilfinger serves as general contractor for maintenance and regular shutdowns of Storengy Deutschland’s natural gas storage sites. The industrial services provider had already been successfully maintaining the four storage sites in northern Germany for more than a decade. Storengy had then expanded the framework agreement with Cloppenburg-based subsidiary Bilfinger EMS GmbH to include the maintenance of all six storage sites in Germany. The scope of services includes mechanical and electrical work as well as maintenance of the electrical instrumentation and control systems for the storage sites. Bilfinger is also responsible for the shutdowns that are conducted about every six months. These shutdowns take place over a period of one to two weeks, during which the storage facilities are comprehensively checked and maintained.
“We offer Storengy a range of services from a single source - an efficient complete package with just a single interface,” says Theodor Osteresch, Managing Director of Bilfinger EMS GmbH. “Our successful partnership is based on mutual trust, close communication, on-schedule delivery and the highest level of quality in the execution of services and in occupational safety. Together we think in solutions, not problems.”
Bilfinger’s current framework agreement with Storengy runs for five years – until 2023 – and includes an option for an additional three years. With its expertise in the maintenance of gas storage facilities, as well as the transport and treatment of gases, the industrial services provider meets the high standards applicable in the handling of materials such as natural gas. Bilfinger also extends this expertise to hydrogen plants and has already successfully completed various pilot projects for customers, including the design and construction of a high-pressure hydrogen storage facility for the German Aerospace Center.
Bilfinger deploys its own personnel for the implementation of the semi-annual shutdowns of Storengy’s storage sites: well-coordinated teams of around 30 to 40 experienced colleagues with extensive plant knowledge ensure that the tightly-planned general overhauls can be completed on schedule.
As Storengy’s general contractor and strategic partner in charge of implementation, Bilfinger conducts the practical work during the shutdowns in consultation with the experts from Storengy and manages both the internal planning as well as the completion of the inspection documents.
“Having Bilfinger at our side as a maintenance partner means we can focus on our core business – confident that our natural gas storage sites are in good hands,” says Dr. Horst Hirschhausen, Managing Director of Storengy Deutschland Betrieb GmbH. “In cooperation with our Storengy colleagues, Bilfinger’s experts also manage all aspects of the regular shutdowns – from planning to the commissioning and monitoring of the other trades and also including execution of the work and speedy completion of the inspection documents.”
Bilfinger and Storengy have also been able to continue their successful cooperation during the Corona pandemic. “The pandemic brought us even closer together. It required close coordination and intensive communication between. This communication and coordination helped us to ensure that the additional requirements were always met, even during the relatively personnel-intensive shutdowns of the storage sites,” says Theodor Osteresch.
In addition to the cooperation in Germany, Bilfinger EMS is currently also advising Storengy on the overhaul and recommissioning of a plant in France. The two companies are also currently exchanging ideas in workshops with the goal of jointly making further progress in the digitalization of maintenance processes.
In 2019, Bilfinger won a safety competition for contractors at Storengy with an innovative concept for the safe and environmentally-friendly cleaning of plant components in a mobile washing container.
For more than four decades, Bilfinger EMS GmbH has been active in multiple disciplines including engineering, plant construction and maintenance. The range of services includes consulting, development, design, construction, assembly, commissioning and maintenance of industrial plants.
Storengy Deutschland GmbH is one of the largest natural gas storage companies in Germany. It is a subsidiary of Storengy SAS, which bundles the ENGIE group’s global gas storage activities. Storengy is the market leader for storage services in Europe. Its core business includes the planning, construction and operation of storage facilities and the marketing of gas storage capacities. Storengy Deutschland GmbH operates six gas storage facilities across Germany and markets their gas storage capacity. Storengy Deutschland Betrieb GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of Storengy Deutschland GmbH, implements the technical operation of the gas storage facilities and also provides services (operation and maintenance) for third-party facilities. A central control room in Hanover ensures the remote operation of technical facilities. The company’s headquarters are based in Berlin. As an innovative partner for the zero carbon transition, Storengy provides its expertise to numerous partners worldwide to develop geothermal projects (heat and power production) as well as energy storage and power-to-X solutions.
Images: Storengy Deutschland
