The Federal Prosecutor’s Office is investigating possible sabotage on an LNG pipeline in Schleswig-Holstein. NDR reported this on Wednesday with reference to a corresponding confirmation from the investigating authority. It is therefore about the initial suspicion of “unconstitutional sabotage”. The Schleswig-Holsteinische Zeitungsverlag (SHZ) reported on possible damage to the gas pipeline at the end of last week. The approximately 55 kilometer long pipeline is said to have been drilled in at least three places.
The line called “ETL 180” was not yet in operation. It runs between Brunsbüttel in the Dithmarschen district at the mouth of the Elbe and Hetlingen in the Pinneberg district further south, just before Hamburg. It will supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a terminal off Brunsbüttel parallel to the Elbe transported to an entry point into the long-distance transmission network. Construction began last March.
The case brings back memories of the Nord Stream attack
In August, climate activists from the “Ende Gelände” alliance blocked the construction site for the pipeline to protest against gas imports into Germany. The pipeline was actually supposed to be completed in December – but at the end of November, the operating company Gasunie reported damage to the line, according to the Schleswig-Holstein state police. There should be three holes each ten millimeters in size. It was initially unclear whether the start of operations was delayed because of the damage or for other reasons. It is not yet known where and when or under what circumstances the holes appeared on the pipeline.
The Federal Prosecutor General has been investigating the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines at the bottom of the Baltic Sea for more than a year. It is not yet clear who was behind several explosive explosions that severely damaged both strands of Nord Stream in September 2022. Some findings by German investigators suggest that a Ukrainian commando could be responsible. Other observers and politicians pointed to Russia shortly after the explosions.
The battle for the authority to interpret the Nord Stream case is a highly symbolic one. After all, the Federal Republic’s gas supply is closely linked to the war in Ukraine: After the start of the Russian war of aggression, the federal government did everything in its power to make Germany’s energy supply independent of the former major gas supplier Russia – including new LNG terminals on the German coast . Within a short space of time, new infrastructure had to and must be created: in addition to the terminals themselves, there were also appropriate pipelines to be able to feed the gas into the nationwide network.