Vorkutinskoye Gas Pipeline Operation Center celebrates anniversary

On March 12, 2018, the Vorkutinskoye Gas Pipeline Operation Center celebrated its 10th anniversary. The branch is the northernmost subdivision of Gazprom Transgaz Ukhta.

The operation center was set up in line with Decision No. 46 dated March 12, 2008, issued by a shareholder of Gazprom Transgaz Ukhta, with Alexey Kryukov appointed as the head of the branch.

The center runs its business in the Komi Republic and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, operating the Bovanenkovo – Ukhta gas trunkline system (GTS), one of the most ambitious and complex projects in the history of pipeline construction. Stretching through permafrost areas, it is Russia’s northernmost gas main. To keep the fragile ecosystem of the tundra undisturbed, the gas pipeline was laid underground, with all of the auxiliary structures built on piles.

The branch encompasses the following facilities: the Baidaratskaya compressor station (CS), the Yarynskaya CS, the Gagaratskaya CS, the Vorkutinskaya CS, a support base in the Bovanenkovo settlement, and an emergency response base in Vorkuta. The Baidaratskaya CS, which deals with gas transmission, is the world’s northernmost compressor station.

The operation center is the only branch of Gazprom Transgaz Ukhta that operates the four-string 287.2-kilometer underwater crossing in the Kara Sea. By 2017, the overall length of the single-string Bovanenkovo – Ukhta gas trunkline system within the areas serviced by the Vorkutinskoye Gas Pipeline Operation Center reached 1,163.329 kilometers.

The branch operates the gas pipeline using lightly-manned technologies. The total number of its staff members is above 800. The average age of employees is 39 years, and 82 per cent of them work under a rotation system in the conditions of the Extreme North. Their camps have everything required for comfortable living and leisure – canteens, gyms, fitness rooms, saunas, and lounges.