minister concerned
Despite the threat of shortages: Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline will be shut down for maintenance on Monday
View of pipe systems and shut-off devices in the gas receiving station of the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline and the receiving station of the OPAL long-distance gas pipeline (Baltic Sea pipeline connection line).
© Stefan Sauer / DPA
The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline will be shut down on Monday morning. Gas will no longer flow from Russia to Germany until July 21. Federal Minister of Economics Habeck is concerned that nothing will flow through the pipes afterwards.
The last most important connection for Russian natural gas to Germany will be shut down on Monday morning. The reason for this is annual maintenance work on the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline, which the operator announced a long time ago. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), among others, has expressed acute concerns that Russia will no longer be able to turn on the gas tap even after the maintenance has been completed. As the operating company Nord Stream AG announced, the work should last until July 21. During this time, no gas will be transported to Germany.
Utilization of the pipeline was recently only 40 percent
In June, the Russian state-owned company Gazprom had already significantly throttled the delivery volume through the more than 1,200-kilometer pipeline from Russia to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania – and this was also due to the lack of a turbine from Siemens Energy, which was no longer sufficient due to the sanctions after maintenance had been completed Montréal could be delivered to Russia. According to the Federal Network Agency, the line is currently only being used at around 40 percent.
However, Canada has now announced that it will allow the serviced turbine to be delivered from Montréal despite the sanctions against Russia. Canada will give Siemens Canada “a time-limited and revocable permit,” said Minister for Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson on Saturday. The turbine is to be delivered from Canada first to Germany and then to Russia.
Russian gas deliveries via other lines to Germany had also recently declined. At the same time, several European countries have already stopped receiving gas from Russia. Since the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine at the end of February, the supply of gas to Europe from Russia has been considered endangered.
A permanent shutdown would be fatal
The operator estimated the duration of the shutdown of Nord Stream 1 to be ten days. We are talking about checking and, if necessary, repairing or calibrating the power supply, fire and gas protection and certain valves. Software updates would also be made. The offshore pipelines remained under pressure. Such work would have taken between 10 and 14 days in previous years. However, they also partially deviated from the set deadline.
According to the Federal Network Agency, the work is not taking place directly on the line, but at the compressor stations, for example in Lubmin. In model calculations, the authority assumes up to 14 days, but has already included a time buffer. Under normal circumstances, however, the work should be able to be completed within the planned period. According to the authority’s models, a permanent shutdown could lead to a gas shortage in Germany in winter.