Corus delivers Isle of Man subsea gas line

Citation

(2003), "Corus delivers Isle of Man subsea gas line", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 50 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2003.12850aaf.003

Corus delivers Isle of Man subsea gas line

Corus delivers Isle of Man subsea gas line

Keywords: Pipelines, Coatings, Tubing

The Corus Energy Business recently completed the load out of the Isle of Man spur line project. Delivery was made to the Arklow Rally vessel at Leith docks, to ship to Allseas, the lay contractors for this pipe.

Bord Gais awarded Corus Tubes Energy Business the contract to supply linepipe, bends and coatings for the Isle of Man spur line project in March 2002. This gave Corus the opportunity to introduce its Port Talbot hot strip mill to the supply chain for the first time. Port Talbot has an excellent track record in producing high quality strip and has quickly adapted to the demands of the linepipe market.

This project, managed by JP Kemy, will supply gas from the new UK/Ireland Interconnector, via an HFI welded spur line to the Isle of Man. The 12 km 10 in. pipeline was manufactured at Corus’ Hartlepool 20 in. pipe mill, before being internally and externally coated at BSR Pipeline Services Limited, the Corus/Ramco joint venture pipe coating facility also based on the Hartlepool site. The pipe was then transported to Leith for external concrete weight coating before being dispatched to the Arklow Rally vessel for pipelay last autumn.

When operational the pipeline will run from a “T” piece in the second Scotland/Ireland pipeline, some 11 km from the shore of the Isle of Man. The pipeline will land at Glen Mooar on the West Coast of the island from where the gas will be routed to provide power to the new state of the art combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power station at Pulrose.

Strength in breadth and depth

“The Isle of Man spur line project demonstrates the broad strengths of Corus Tubes in project managing multi-site, multi-product pipeline packages,” remarks Ray Prince, Commercial Manager, Corus Tubes Energy Business.

“On this project we were able to make the steel and slab at Lackenby and introduce the Corus hot strip mill at Port Talbot in Wales to our supply chain. Port Talbot has an excellent track record for producing high quality strip in a wide range of applications and has swiftly adapted to the demands of the linepipe market. With the energy industry constantly looking for improved cost and quality control we can be confident that this bodes well for the further development of our HFI capabilities in the future.”

This introduction of the Port Talbot mill is said to demonstrate the inherent flexibility of the Corus supply chain.

“At the Port Talbot mill over the past year we have developed the capability to roll and coil thicker steel In addition we have worked on the special needs of added value niche markets, such as coil for pipe mills, where better temperature control is required.

“We have been really pushing the operation of the mill and learning how it reacts. Now with that successful experience behind us we are running trials for a much larger order for Hartlepool,” explains Garry Newbould, mill manager at Port Talbot.

This Isle of Man spur line project also demonstrates the depth of Corus technology applied at steel making, through coil manufacture to pipe production and subsequent coating ensuring the provision of high grade linepipe for this demanding subsea application.

Corus Tubes Energy Business specialises in Project Pipeline supply and offers a total fine pipe package solution, which can include pipe-in-pipe, insulated system technical and design support and full project-management of the package. The company will co-ordinate material procurement, pipe bend and spool fabrication, corrosion coating, qualification testing and delivery logistics.

Details available from: Corus Tubes Energy Business, Tel: +44 (0)1536 402121; Fax: +44 (0) 1536 404004.