Infrastructure
Gas infrastructure in Austria
The Austrian gas grid is a historically grown system which, due to its location, represents a central hub for the distribution of gas in Europe.
The Austrian gas grid consists of three pipeline levels:
- Transmission pipelines for the import and export of gas by means of high-pressure pipelines.
- Level 1 distribution pipelines for the supra-regional transport of gas in Austria
- Level 2 distribution pipelines for regional distribution to end customers.
In addition to the transmission and distribution pipelines, storage facilities as well as natural gas and biomethane plants are also part of the Austrian gas grid.
The Austrian gas grid
The transmission grid
The Austrian transmission network only runs through the Market Area East and comprises approx. 2,000 km of high-pressure pipelines. The Trans Austria Gasleitung (TAG) and the West Austria Gasleitung (WAG) form the main axes in the Austrian transmission system.
AGGM is responsible for coordinating network control as well as network and balancing energy management in the transmission network.
The Austrian distribution network
The Austrian distribution network covers all market areas (East, Tyrol and Vorarlberg) and has a total length of approx. 44,000 km.
Level 1 distribution pipelines are used for supra-regional gas transport and large-scale customer supply. Gas storage facilities are connected to the Level 1 distribution pipeline network. As the distribution area manager, AGGM is responsible for controlling the Level 1 distribution network.
The distribution pipelines of level 2 supply end customers and companies with gas. The majority of end consumers are subsequently connected to the higher-ranking gas network via low-pressure pipeline systems. The pipelines of distribution network level 2 are controlled by the network operators.
