Germany | Messer has installed a nitrogen production unit for the transmission system operator Nowega. As part of the natural gas conversion of Nowega in Rehden, the unit was commissioned in the spring of 2021 and officially inaugurated in early October. The unit can continuously produce up to 13,000 cubic meters per hour of nitrogen. That nitrogen is mixed as needed with high calorific value natural gas (H-gas), in order to convert it to lower calorie natural gas (L-gas). With the drastic reduction in the supply of L-gas in Germany and the Netherlands in recent years, this conversion is designed to ensure supply reliability for today’s L-gas areas.
The new nitrogen production facility replaces up to 16 road tanker deliveries per day. With an average trip distance of 300 kilometers, this represents a daily reduction of up to 3.7 metric tons of CO₂ emissions. It also reduces strain on the road network and cuts noise pollution. The on-site unit’s noise emissions are minimized to protect people who live nearby. Moreover, since this nitrogen is produced in gaseous form only and not liquefied, the process emits up to 41.2 fewer metric tons per day of CO₂ than would otherwise have been emitted. As a result, the total reduction in CO₂ emissions amounts to as much as 16,400 metric tons per year. Natural gas supply reliability is also significantly increased at the same time, in view of the risk of black ice during the winter months and the resulting temporary driving ban on hazardous goods transport.
