GERG and the future of Europe's gas pipelines

Alexandra Kostereva, Operations Manager at GERG (European Gas Research Group), talks to Elizabeth Corner about:

• The most pressing technical challenges currently facing gas pipelines in Europe.
• What kind of innovations or adaptations are being explored for existing pipeline infrastructure.
• How GERG ensures that pipeline-related research translates into real-world safety, sustainability, and efficiency improvements across the continent.
• Energy resilience in Europe.

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Creators and Guests

Host

Elizabeth Corner

Elizabeth leads the editorial teams at World Pipelines, commissioning articles and features, and representing the magazine at industry events.

Guest

Alexandra Kostereva

Operations Manager at GERG (European Gas Research Group)

What is World Pipelines Podcast?

The World Pipelines podcast, with Elizabeth Corner, is a podcast that connects and unites pipeline professionals to learn about issues affecting the midstream oil and gas industry.

Elizabeth Corner: 00:01

Hello, and welcome back to the World Pipelines podcast, a podcast series for pipeliners. I'm your host, Elizabeth Corner. And in this season of the podcast, I have been talking to different membership associations all over the world who work for the good of the pipeline sector. In this final episode of the season, I'm very pleased to be talking to Alexandra Costareva, who is operations manager at GERG, the European Gas Research Group. Alexandra has a background in energy engineering and economics of energy, as well as policy experience at the European Commission.

Elizabeth Corner: 00:39

She's been with GERG since 2019, and she coordinates membership research activities and manages the group's participation to over 15 European funded research projects.

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Elizabeth Corner: 01:35

So hello, Alexandra. Welcome to the podcast. Perhaps you can start by giving us an overview of the role that GERG plays in Europe's energy research landscape, and specifically how it supports the pipeline community across member countries.

Alexandra Kostereva: 01:51

With pleasure. So at GERG, we are the European Gas Research Group, a non profit research association. We actually have over sixty years of history, so the oldest gas research association in Europe. We act as a collaborative platform between industry and academia, focusing on the full value chain of gaseous energy. And the goal of the group is to identify technical challenges and build collaborative research solutions.

Alexandra Kostereva: 02:16

We collaborate in the pipeline space with international organisations such as PLCI and EPRD for international information and best practice sharing.

Elizabeth Corner: 02:26

You mentioned technical challenges. What are the most pressing technical challenges currently facing gas pipelines in Europe, and then how is GERG helping to address those?

Alexandra Kostereva: 02:36

So today, the main issues that are being faced by the sector is the emergence of new energy carriers such as hydrogen and biomethane, and the networks requires retrofitting for these new gases for which it hadn't been designed and built for. So we have a variety of assets, some of them are old or require different adaptations, so there's a big integrity challenge. So for these different concerns, we run different working groups with identified research priorities. So for us, at the moment, these are hydrogen by missing emissions and carbon capture, utilisation and storage. And we also support targeted R and D projects funded by industry and also by European funds.

Elizabeth Corner: 03:21

And with the growing emphasis on decarbonisation and particularly hydrogen integration, What kind of innovations or adaptations are being explored for existing pipeline infrastructure?

Alexandra Kostereva: 03:33

So there is really a variety of research going on to make sure that the infrastructure is ready for a sustainable energy future and clean gases. In the hydrogen space, for example, we're working on a few key projects such as Pilgrim, where we build a pre normative framework for integrating pure hydrogen into existing networks. Candy, which focuses on how non steel metallic distribution pipelines handle hydrogen, or the Optics Project, which develops advanced fibreoptic hydrogen sensors to improve safety and reduce potential hydrogen emissions. So these are all from the Clean Hydrogen Partnership programme, and we also work a lot with the European Partnership for Metrology. Metrology, of course, is science of measurement, which applies to a great many sectors, and for our purposes ensures that flow, sampling, composition measurements evolve with the gases and the systems that we now use.

Elizabeth Corner: 04:29

So GERG works closely with both industry and academia, with both sides of the coin. What's an example of a successful collaboration that has directly benefited pipeliners out there working on the ground?

Alexandra Kostereva: 04:42

Thanks for this question. This is one of the value of our work to bridge sectors. I would like to mention here one of our success stories, which was the project on-site level methane emissions quantifications, where we had a multi phase project involving many industry partners to test different providers for site level technologies measuring methane emissions. So it was an industry wide benchmarking involving technologies such as drones, cars and on-site technology measurement and quantification, testing in the field in different parts. This was an industry led project, results of which were analysed and used by academic partners.

Alexandra Kostereva: 05:26

So we worked with LLCE and the University of Outre to guarantee that there is a seen rigour and independent analysis of these results. And we were also happy that the results of this project has been communicated to the European Commission, who even visited some field tests actually, and so this contributed to the development of the European methane strategy.

Elizabeth Corner: 05:48

That's amazing, wonderful work. How does GERG ensure that the pipeline related research that it does translates into real world safety, measurable sustainability, you know, efficiency improvements?

Alexandra Kostereva: 06:03

So we have within our membership, we have operators, so mostly distribution and transmission. So this is a strong link with of course real world challenges. Members bring us issues, questions that they may have within their own practice, which we are able to solve jointly by sharing best practices and also where necessary building research collaborations that are able to move faster and avoid duplication, so also saving some money for our membership. We also work a lot with the standardisation bodies, so feeding them the research and the insights from operators allows us to turn this into operational roles in the field.

Elizabeth Corner: 06:48

We've heard a lot lately about building energy resilience in Europe. I wonder what your view is on how pipelines are being reimagined or reinforced to support that goal in quite a shifting geopolitical climate?

Alexandra Kostereva: 07:03

Through the pipelines, Rodin, about a quarter of EU energy. So this is a major asset that we need to consider from our side as operators, as policymakers, as standardisation bodies, to help adapt it for the future, ensuring of course climate goals, but also energy resilience. Development of hydrogen and also locally produced biogas, biomethane will contribute to this goal of energy sovereignty from our European context, resilience and of course climate alignment. So at GERG we are keen to support our membership in their strategies to achieve this clean energy future.

Elizabeth Corner: 07:42

And Alexander, if you could wave a magic wand or a magic spanner and fix one misconception that people have about gas pipelines, what would it be?

Alexandra Kostereva: 07:52

So I think that in the larger public, gas pipelines might be still associated with a very traditional fossil infrastructure kind of perception, even potentially a negative public perception of it being a dirty fuel. And we are trying also to communicate that this is actually a major part of the energy system that is working towards energy resilience and respecting the climate impacts as well, repurposed for clean gases and which will remain the molecules component of the energy system will remain a key tool in net zero transition.

Elizabeth Corner: 08:32

In all your research or travels, has there been a moment where you stood in front of, I don't know, a pipeline project or visited a GERG member company and thought, yes, this is why I do what I do, this is why GERG does the work that it does?

Alexandra Kostereva: 08:47

There have been quite a few very interesting things to choose from for questions. Field visits are always very inspirational to be able to see the assets in the operation, the people who work on them. I've had the chance to visit, for example, a hydrogen safety testing site over in Spadeadham, witnessing a controlled hydrogen explosion that really drives home the importance of hydrogen safety. But what I would if I had to choose one, I would actually go with a conference moment. I have had the privilege to organise for three editions now the GERG Young Researchers Awards, which are hosted alongside the ERGATEC, which is a European Gas Technology Conference.

Alexandra Kostereva: 09:26

And we run this competition for young researchers, aligned with the themes of the conference, which also turn around integrity, clean gases, adaptation of networks. And I think such a moment for me was the very first time we run that session on stage in front of the conference audience, and it was really quite emotional to see those young colleagues presenting their ideas, but especially the reception in the room. You really felt that there was a real interest, a real warmth from the community of much more seasoned professionals to welcome this energy into the sector.

Elizabeth Corner: 10:05

I'm glad you've mentioned the young pipeliners because I want to fast forward you into the future. Let's imagine it's 02/1940, some of those young pipeliners are still working for us in the industry. What do you hope Europe's gas pipeline infrastructure looks like or is carrying by then?

Alexandra Kostereva: 10:23

So hopefully by that time we would be well on the way for net zero, With networks transporting hydrogen by methane, the European Hydrogen Backbone, for example, lays out a roadmap for how the hydrogen networks will develop with projects all over Europe connecting hubs and different communities to hydrogen. Development of biomethane, we hope, is going to continue to boom. With the Repower EU strategy, we were forecasting 35 BCM of biomethane by 02/1935, but actually recent reports from the European Biogas Association and other industry actors pushed that to 100 BCM by 02/1940. We hope that the biomethane networks would be prominent at that point. And of course, the pipeline network resilient and continue to be crucial for balancing regional supply and demand, especially during peak moments in network integration with other sources of energy.

Elizabeth Corner: 11:23

And what advice would you give to that next next generation of pipeliners or researchers who are coming into this space, especially those hoping to take their turn to shape Europe's energy future?

Alexandra Kostereva: 11:34

Yes, thank you for this question. I hope we are joined by many more young professionals in the future, especially in this field, in gas, new gases and pipelines, as of course, we are looking towards an energy future that is quite challenging and we have to use all our best talent to move towards something that is reliable, affordable as well for the populations, and clean and respectful of the environment. So there will be a naughty fuel future. Electrification, of course, is very important, but we will need people working on the pipelines of the future. An advice is maybe when you're starting, do look for cross border and cross discipline collaborations, which is something that is a value of ours at GERG, and it really helps to share ideas and to streamline a lot of the work and challenges that people might be faced with.

Alexandra Kostereva: 12:27

And hopefully people will be able to join support networks, so this is something that we're at GERG, I know you've had a previous edition also the Young Pipeliners, which is a great initiative, and yeah, opportunities to build your network and feel supported in this common goal.

Elizabeth Corner: 12:45

Thank you so much Alexandra and for telling us all about the work that's going on at GERG.

Alexandra Kostereva: 12:49

Thank you so much, Elizabeth, it was a pleasure.

Elizabeth Corner: 12:53

Thanks to Alexandra Costareva at GERG for offering a uniquely European perspective on the future of gas pipelines. It's a landscape where so much is changing, so I'm grateful that she could share what GERG is doing to keep apace with and to pursue change. That wraps up this season of the podcast in which we have learned a lot about pipeline membership associations, from training and research to events and networking to inclusion and community, and all in the name of safety and progress. Many thanks to my gracious interviewees at the PLCAC, the PLCA, the Pipeline Industries Guild, YPI, Yploca, Yucopa, AMP, the PRCI, and GERG. Our season sponsor has been TDW, and we thank our lucky stars to have had them supporting and encouraging us.

Elizabeth Corner: 13:47

We'll be back with more pipeline related podcast episodes soon, so please subscribe for free wherever you get your podcasts. If you have enjoyed this episode, please rate and review and forward to a colleague or friend.

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