Thursday, December 16, 2021
Authority is waiting for documents
Nord Stream 2 will probably not start until summer
Nord Stream 2’s certification process is currently on hold. The head of the Federal Network Agency therefore does not believe that the gas pipeline will go into operation in the next six months. Because before an examination of the line, some bureaucratic hurdles would have to be overcome.
Commissioning of the controversial Baltic Sea gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 is not expected to be possible in the first half of 2022. “There will be no decisions in the first half of the year,” said the President of the Bonn Federal Network Agency, Jochen Homann, with a view to the necessary approval of the pipeline.
Nord Stream AG initiated the establishment of a new German subsidiary, as requested by the network agency. “She announced that and we interrupted the certification process.” This will continue when the relevant documents have been submitted to the authority in such a way that they can be examined. “We don’t have that in our hands,” he said.
“The moment we receive the documents, the review period begins again.” Then the whole thing goes to the European Commission, which also has plenty of time to deal with Nord Stream 2. There will therefore not be any decisions in the first six months of the coming year.
The Federal Network Agency announced in November that it had temporarily suspended its approval procedure for the pipeline between Russia and Germany. Without certification, no gas may flow through the pipes to Germany. The Federal Network Agency had come to the conclusion that certification of an operator would only be considered if it was organized in a legal form under German law, it justified its decision. However, the operating company is based in Switzerland.
The USA, but also Poland and Ukraine, do not want Nord Stream 2, which connects Russia directly with Germany via the Baltic Sea, to go into operation. A possible dependency of Germany and Europe on Russian gas is also criticized against the background of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. You are also counting on a change in Germany’s course by the new federal government.