Equipment needs to be checked: Nord Stream 2 extension is delayed

Friday 15th January 2021

Equipment needs to be checked
Nord Stream 2 expansion is delayed

The work in German waters has been completed, and pipes for Nord Stream 2 can now be laid off the Danish coast. Permission has been given, but work may not start until February. The delay should have nothing to do with the possible US sanctions.

The resumption of work on the controversial Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2 has been delayed. "We have the permission from the Danish Energy Agency to start work on Friday. But that does not mean that we will start laying pipes again on Friday," a spokesman for Nord Stream 2 AG told the "Handelsblatt" . One will "first check the technical equipment." That will take at least a few days.

Probably at the end of January and beginning of February, it will be possible to better estimate when to start laying the pipes. "We cannot therefore give an exact date for the resumption of the laying work."

On Thursday, Uniper boss Andreas Schierenbeck stated that he assumed that the pipeline would be completed. "We think it is positive that the work on the first line in Germany has now been completed and that work in Danish waters will start again in the next few days."

Foundation is supposed to overturn sanctions

Alongside the Austrian OMV, Wintershall, Royal Dutch Shell and the French utility Engie, Uniper is one of the financial partners for the project, which cost almost ten billion euros. The USA rejects the construction of the 1200-kilometer tube and is examining whether to impose sanctions on it. The Washington government fears that this could make Europe even more dependent on Russian natural gas. However, the USA also wants to sell its gas in Europe itself.

Last week, the state parliament in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania cleared the way for the establishment of a state-owned environmental foundation, which can also support the completion of the controversial Baltic Sea gas pipeline. Should the US actually impose sanctions, the foundation could buy components and machinery that are essential for the completion of the gas pipeline instead of the companies involved.

Federal Office approves further construction

According to the Russian energy company Gazprom as the main investor, 94 percent of the pipeline has been completed. This means that more than 2,300 kilometers of double-strand pipes lie on the sea floor. About 150 kilometers are still missing, i.e. 75 kilometers per strand – of which about 120 kilometers in Danish and about 30 kilometers in German waters.

For this approximately 30 kilometers south of the Danish island of Bornholm, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) approved the immediate expansion. This emerges from a communication from the authority. The previous permit would normally not have allowed work to be done until the end of May. A contradiction – for example from environmental associations – could stop the immediate expansion in the German "Exclusive Economic Zone" (EEZ), as it would have suspensive effect.

In December, the Russian "Fortuna" had already completed a 2.6-kilometer line section in the German EEZ. However, after a one-year break due to US sanctions, the BSH's approval for the laying work expired at the turn of the year.