Transco invests £60m in pipeline revamp

Transco, the UK's gas transportation company, will pay £60m to modernise the computer systems that control the flow of gas through its pipelines.

The company has launched its Ulysses project by hiring Logica to co-ordinate the two-year implementation.

A company spokesman said: "This deal will be the foundation for the way Transco controls its gas network. Logica is acting as the prime contractor, and it'll engage subcontractors to design, develop and implement the next-generation control systems."

Stephen Darvill, marketing manager at Logica's energy and utilities division, said deregulation means the utility needs to update its IT. "The world is a little different from when the controls were originally put in," he explained. "In the monopoly situation, systems were designed and controlled on an engineering basis. Now, the basis for decisions is price and cost."

Secondary contracts have not yet been awarded, but Darvill said the project would include arrangements to connect field workers with the control room.

Darvill added that Ulysses would go further than just helping Transco run a more efficient business in the UK; it will also make the company more competitive in the world market. "The gas companies in the rest of Europe are waking up to the need to radically change the way they manage their businesses and the systems they need to do it. Transco is way ahead of others around the world," he concluded.