QazaqGaz launches new $17 mln gas pipeline in western Kazakhstan
ASTANA. May 12 (Interfax) - The new Sarsha underground high-pressure gas pipeline, 60 km in length, was put into operation in the Mangistau region of Kazakhstan, the press service of the QazaqGaz National Company said.
"The new main pipeline will provide gas to the resort area and the regional center of Aktau, and have a positive impact on the implementation of new projects," the release on Friday said.
The construction cost was 7.5 billion tenge, or $16.9 million at the current exchange rate, the QazaqGaz press service told Interfax.
The pipeline connects the village of Kuryk with the area of Sarsha and the Tyoply Plyazh resort area in the suburbs of Aktau. Five existing recreation centers will be connected to it, as well as future hotels and entertainment centers that are planned for the region. The resort area will consume about 20,000 cu. m. of gas per hour.
Gasification will also solve the problem of a shortage of water in the region. One of the main consumers of gas, using up to 21,000 cu. m. per hour, will be a desalination plant planned for construction. These needs are already accounted for in the throughput capacity of the Sarsha gas pipeline.
"The demand for gas from this enterprise will be greater than that of all the hotels and shopping malls in the Tyoply Plyazh resort area combined. The capacity of the desalination plant will be up to 50 cu. m. per hour. This means that local residents will receive an additional 1.2 million liters of drinking water daily," the company said.
In addition, gasification will give impetus to the development of agriculture in the region. Because of the harsh desert conditions in the Mangistau region, there are practically no farmland areas and agricultural products are produced in greenhouses that require fuel to operate. Thanks to the launch of the gas pipeline, households will receive up to 36,500 additional cu. m. of gas per hour, QazaqGaz said.
The official exchange rate as of May 12 is 444.22 tenge/$1.