Marcogaz and Sedigas organised the well established European Forum Gas – EFG 2009 –in Madrid on 18-19 June 2009.

In this edition, Marcogaz offered high level presentations from the Industry and University experts which will highlight the most actual and interesting issues especially related to technical competences for installers-technicians, materials, distribution systems, energy efficiency, life cycle assessment and carbon capture&storage.

EFG 2009 was held in parallel with the Spanish National Gas Congress.

Introduction : "Quality and Safety of Gas Installations" Ir. Hella Rijpkema (Kiwa Gas Technology NL)   (100KB)

Introduction : "High Efficiency Gas Appliances for a Sustainable Energy Use" Theo B. Jannemann (DVGW CERT GmbH, D)   (110KB)

The liberalization of the Gas Market in Europe, started in 1998 with the first Gas Directive, has dramatically changed the environment of the Gas Companies by modifying deeply their organization. In spite of these changes, the Gas Industry has succeeded in improving the safety and reliability of its activity.

To continue this successful story, a particular attention was given to maintain the existing high level requirements & procedures for materials used in the construction of gas grids and the improvement of the quality of new materials & technologies for the future.

The session focused also on the very important role played by International and European standardization in providing a common safety level and quality requirements for all the Gas Operators involved in the process.

The EU rules for opening the natural gas internal market and increasing competition have created many new challenges for the gas operators. In this framework, decisions to invest in new infrastructure projects shall be taken carefully and alternative solutions to new grids such as pressure upgrading can be of high interest. But the increasing competition among the different players shall not lead to a reduction of the safety and reliability
of the gas systems but, on the contrary to their improvement at a lower cost.

Subjects presented in this session dealt with how to reconcile the expectations for a good level of safety and reliability with the constraints posed by cost reduction.

Many discussions are currently taking place at EU level regarding the possible introduction of smart metering systems. The Marcogaz position and an example of development was presented. Safety being always paramount for gas systems it is important to evaluate the possible impact on safety of new gases to be injected in the future into gas grids.

The GERG presentations give a flavour of the impact on safety of the injection of Hydrogen into gas pipelines and how to measure the safety level by the use of specific safety indicators for distribution grids.