GRTgaz is modernising the Vindecy compressor station (Saône-et-Loire)
On Thursday 17 October, an inauguration ceremony was held in the presence of Didier Chapon, Mayor of Vindecy, Anne-Sophie Decaux, GRTgaz's Director of Industrial Assets, and Benoit Pouzieux, GRTgaz's Director of Operations, to celebrate the completion of modernisation work on the Vindecy gas compressor station.
Presentation of the Vindecy station
GRTgaz operates 26 gas compressor stations across the 33,000 kilometres of buried pipelines that make up its national gas transmission network.
The Vindecy compressor station, one of the first stations in France, was commissioned in 1959; it controls the flow and the pressure on the gas transmission network. Thanks to its central geographical location, it plays a key role in the national management of gas flows.
2024 marks the completion of the renovation of the Vindecy compressor station. This modernisation work is part of GRTgaz's action plan aimed to reduce the environmental impact of its activities and prepare for the future. In the light of its key location and years of service, the station needed to be modernised to meet the current environmental challenges, and the role infrastructure will play in the future to decarbonise our economy.
66 million euros have thus been invested since 2017
New turbines were installed to improve energy efficiency and sobriety.
The Vindecy station now incorporates the "Zero Emission" approach, which significantly reduces methane emissions. An innovative prototype for seal leak recovery and recompression has been introduced, demonstrating the site's commitment to sustainability.1
GRTgaz built a photovoltaic solar park to increase the site's energy self-sufficiency. Finally, with a view to achieving the "zero phyto" objective, eco-grazing with local sheep was introduced to maintain the green spaces. In addition, GRTgaz planted more than 3,600 trees to enhance local biodiversity and help the facility be an integral part of its environment.
GRTgaz builds and operates infrastructures that play an essential role in working towards a more sustainable energy future. Thanks to those interconnected infrastructures, gas and renewable gas are transported across long distances to serve customers and network users.
GRTgaz thus reasserts its commitment to the energy transition across the regions and helps accelerate the development of renewable gas.
1 In 2021, GRTgaz launched a new programme to go even further by reducing its methane emissions by a further 40% by 2025. This target would bring the overall reduction to 80% since 2016 and makes GRTgaz one of the most ambitious players involved in the United Nations' approach.