As one of Europe’s most critical gas transport operators, Gassco is responsible for delivering over 100 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Norwegian natural gas annually to terminals across the UK, Belgium, France, and Germany. These receiving facilities form a vital backbone of Europe’s energy system, supporting secure, continuous supply across 8,800+ km of offshore pipelines. Ensuring the safety, reliability, and long‑term operability of this infrastructure is essential—not only for energy security but also for resilience amid rising demand and evolving regulatory standards. 

To address ageing assets, strengthen safety systems, and meet new Barrier Integrity Review (BIR) requirements, Gassco initiated a multi‑year upgrade of its gas terminals beginning in 2022—an undertaking requiring high‑precision engineering, deep operational insight, and coordinated execution across multiple countries. 

Delivering safety‑driven upgrades 

Gassco awarded Wood a long‑term EPCM contract to support safety‑critical upgrades across five major gas receiving terminals in Easington, UK; Zeebrügge, Belgium; Dunkerque, France; Dornum, Germany; and Emden, Germany. The initial 2022 contract covered EPCM services for safety enhancements and life‑extension work on all facilities. In 2023, the scope expanded to include additional front‑end engineering design (FEED) studies as well as further upgrade packages extending into 2027. 

These terminals, which together receive roughly 100 bcm of gas annually, play a crucial role in keeping Europe’s energy system resilient, secure, and efficient. More than 200 Wood specialists across Europe support this complex, multi‑location effort. The work is centrally managed from Wood’s Sandefjord office in Norway, integrating teams across engineering hubs and local terminal sites to deliver consistent, high‑quality project execution. 

Creating resilience through operational expertise 

All activities are aligned to Gassco’s updated safety requirements following the Barrier Integrity Reviews (BIR), ensuring each terminal upgrades critical systems to modern standards. Wood’s engineering responsibilities spanned systems modernization, asset life‑extension planning, safety systems redesign and FEED and detailed engineering for future enhancements.

Wood brought decades of experience in upgrading high‑risk, high‑value energy infrastructure to the projects. Their teams focused on ensuring continuity of operations during upgrades, minimizing disruption while implementing major safety improvements across multiple terminals. 

Wood implemented a new emergency shutdown hierarchy to increase reliability and prevent false trips—reducing operational risk and ensuring predictable plant performance. Historically, fuel gas served as the motive pressure, or motor gas, for operating valves, which is a design presenting hydrocarbon leak risks. Wood replaced this with high‑pressure, non‑flammable nitrogen gas, removing a significant potential ignition source and strengthening site safety. 

Previous facility designs did not automatically isolate ignition sources in the event of a confirmed gas leak. Wood introduced a modern ISC philosophy, implementing automated isolation systems to dramatically improve response capability and reduce risk during hazardous events. These solutions collectively modernize safety systems across all five terminals, setting a new benchmark for operational safety in gas‑receiving infrastructure.

Through this multi‑year contract, Wood is helping Gassco enhance the resilience and safety of Europe’s gas supply infrastructure, modernize ageing assets across five major terminals, comply with rigorous new safety standards and support continued secure delivery of Norwegian gas into Europe’s energy system.

These upgrades are enabling Gassco to maintain high availability, extend asset life, and strengthen Europe’s ability to meet rising gas demand while transitioning toward a more secure and sustainable energy future.