The Trans Europa Naturgas Pipeline (TENP) is a natural gas pipeline which runs from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

border to the German-

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

border. It carries

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

natural gas from the Netherlands to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and Switzerland. It also provides natural gas for

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

and

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

federal states.

History

The TENP was built in 1972–1974, and upgraded in 1978 and 2009.

Route

The pipeline runs from the

border near Aachen to the German-

border near

Schwörstadt Schwörstadt is a municipality in the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the Europ ...

. In the German-Swiss border it is connected with the

Transitgas Pipeline The Transitgas Pipeline is a long natural gas pipeline in Switzerland, which connects Trans Europa Naturgas Pipeline (TENP) from Wallbach at the German border and Gaz de France gas grid from Rodersdorf/ Oltingue at the French border with th ...

. ''En route'', in Stolberg the pipeline is connected with the pipeline from

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zee ...

and in

Mittelbrunn Mittelbrunn is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. Verena Chapel The Verena Chapel (german: Verenakapelle) in Mittelbrunn was first mentioned in 1496. The chapel was partially destroyed in ...

it is connected with the transport system of the

MEGAL pipeline The MEGAL pipeline (german: Mittel-Europäische-Gasleitung) is a major natural gas pipeline system in southern Germany. It transports natural gas from the Czech–German and Austrian–German borders to the German–French border. History Const ...

system which transports

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

n natural gas from the German- Czech border to German regions and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Technical features

The length of the pipeline is and it runs in two lines. It has a capacity of 15.5 billion cubic meters per year which the operator intends to increase by 2 billion cubic meters per year. The diameter of pipeline varies from . The pipeline comprises four compressor stations.

Company

The pipeline is owned and operated by Trans Europa Naturgas Pipeline GmbH & Co. KG, a joint venture of Open Grid Europe (51%) and Fluxys (49%). It is operated by Open Grid Europe.

Antitrust case

Since 2007, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

has been probing Eni's alleged restrictive practices on the TAG, Transitgas and TENP pipelines by limiting third parties access to the pipelines. The hearing is set for 27 November 2007.

References

{{Portal, Germany, Energy Energy infrastructure completed in 1974 Natural gas pipelines in Germany