Status: 01/26/2022 06:18 p.m
To be able to put the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline into operation, a German operating company has so far been missing. This requirement is now met. However, certification is still pending.
The subsidiary required for the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has been founded. The gas transport company Gas for Europe GmbH is based in Schwerin, as the company announced. The Federal Network Agency suspended a certification process in November and issued a corresponding condition.
Gas for Europe will own and operate the German part of the pipeline, the statement said. This includes the approximately 54-kilometer-long pipeline section in German territorial waters and the landing station in Lubmin in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Reinhard Ontyd was appointed managing director. He had worked in the management of various energy companies. According to Gas for Europe, it will now focus all its efforts on meeting the requirements for the continuation of the certification process.
Certification pending.
The Federal Network Agency initially stopped the certification process in November and pointed out that the transport network operator had to be a company under German law. Nord Stream 2 AG is based in Zug, Switzerland. The Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany has now been completed, but is not yet in operation due to the lack of certification.
Construction of Nord Stream 2 began in 2018. More than ten billion euros flowed into the pipeline system, through which around 55 billion cubic meters of gas are to be transported from Russia to Germany each year. According to the operating company, this could supply 26 million households. The project has been criticized for years because of Germany’s possible dependence on Russian gas.