Doris Leblond
OGJ Correspondent

PARIS, July 3 -- Gaz de France's transport subsidiary GRTgaz plans to enlarge and upgrade its French pipeline system capacities to accommodate additional natural gas imports from five planned LNG terminals and four proposed entry pipelines from other European countries.

Uncertainties exist in planning, however: it is unknown, for example, how many of these current projects will actually come on stream, what competition there may be from other operators' future transport networks, and the growth of combined-cycle gas power units, all of which involve prospective new clients needing new transport capacities.

Following a prospective study, GRTgaz strategy head Philippe Garnier reckons that overall, some €5 billion would be needed to further develop, upgrade, and complete the network through 2017.

Half of the €5 billion will be devoted to making the network more flexible, but additional projects will depend on the number of entry points actually built at the borders with Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Switzerland as well as on the five proposed LNG terminal projects—Dunkirk, Antifer (Le Havre), Montoir extension, Le Verdon, and Shell's Fos Faster. If all projects are built, entry capacity would increase by 80%.