Mülheim an der Ruhr: Chancellor Scholz wants to visit the gas turbine

The serviced gas turbine for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline has been a political issue for weeks. Chancellor Scholz now wants to personally inspect the turbine that has been temporarily stored in Mülheim. He defended Canada’s prime minister because of the delivery.

In the gas dispute with Russia, Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to look at the turbine being serviced in Canada for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in Mülheim an der Ruhr. This was announced by the energy technology group Siemens Energy. The turbine is ready for onward transport to Russia, it said.

In an interview with the Canadian newspaper “The Globe and Mail”, Scholz defended the delivery of the turbine, which is controversial because of the circumvention of sanctions. “By delivering the turbine, we exposed Putin’s bluff,” he said. “He can no longer use this pretext and no longer bring up technical reasons for the lack of gas deliveries.”

Since June, Russia has cut back gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in the Baltic Sea. The energy company Gazprom justified this with a missing turbine from Siemens Energy due to the sanctions. Last week, with reference to further repair work, the company cut gas supplies again so that only 20 percent of the maximum possible amount is now flowing through the pipes. In Europe, the justification is considered a pretext.

Scholz defends Trudeau

Scholz defended Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had come under pressure because of the turbine deliveries. “For me, the criticism of Justin Trudeau and his government is completely unfounded,” he said. “The decision to supply the turbine is hardly a favor to Gazprom, but rather a strong sign of support for Germany and Europe.”

The maintenance and shipping of the turbine had caused turmoil and pressure on Trudeau in Canada in recent weeks. With the extradition, Ottawa circumvented its own sanctions against Moscow and thereby also angered the Ukrainian leadership. The influential World Congress of Ukrainians, which represents Ukrainians all over the world, even announced in mid-July that it would sue the government for the turbine’s return.

Schröder holds Siemens responsible

Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder blames Siemens for the lack of the turbine. “The turbines that you need to get the gas into the pipeline at all come from Siemens and have to be serviced regularly,” he told Stern magazine and the RTL/ntv broadcasters. “But Siemens brought the much-discussed turbine from maintenance in Canada to Mülheim an der Ruhr. I don’t understand why it’s there and not in Russia.”

The fact that only a fifth of the normal amount of gas is currently flowing through the pipeline – 30 million cubic meters per day – is due to technical reasons, Schröder said. “It would be 60 million, twice as much if only turbine number two were available. That’s Siemens’ responsibility, if I see it correctly.” Schröder also spoke out in favor of commissioning the new Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2. That would be “the simplest solution,” he said.

In his opinion, the throttling of Russian gas supplies was not politically motivated. “There has been no political announcement by the Kremlin to throttle the flow of gas. This is mainly a technical and bureaucratic problem, one on both sides, by the way. And one side is passing the buck to the other.” Schröder has long been criticized for his closeness to Putin and the Russian oil and gas industry.

“They lie to your face”

According to the Russian energy company Gazprom, the turbine is important in order to build up the necessary pressure for pumping the gas. Gazprom has repeatedly accused its contractual partner Siemens Energy of not having sent the necessary documents and information to repair the machine. Siemens has repeatedly denied the Russian account. The industrial group itself states that it can deliver the turbine to Russia at any time.

According to the Kremlin, Russia is hoping for a speedy return of the repaired gas turbine in view of the reduced gas supplies through the pipeline. The turbine should then be installed in the Portovaya gas compressor station, after which work could begin to put it back into operation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

According to Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck, the turbine has been in Germany since July 18. All the papers were there, he had them in his own hands, said the Green politician. But Russia refuses to bring the turbine into its own country. “You lie to your face,” said Habeck. He spoke of a “farce” in this context.