Operations on the Nord Stream pipeline had been suspended since July 11 for annual maintenance and there was uncertainty about the return of distribution.
JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP
THE Europe Also on this Thursday, 21st, the gas went off again Russia. “It’s working,” a Nord Stream spokesman said this morning. Operations on the Nord Stream pipeline had been suspended since July 11 for annual maintenance. Around 29 GWh of gas was transported to the German station in Greifswald on the Baltic Sea in the second hour after the pipeline was put back into operation. This pipeline delivers about a third of the gas that the European Union (EU) buy annually. After arrival in Germanythe main customer and a country heavily dependent on Russian energy, the gas is exported to other countries.
According to the first data published by the German operator of this network, Gascade, the flow corresponds to what this pipeline recorded before it was closed for maintenance, which corresponds to 40% of its capacity. This amount has been distributed since midJune, when Gazprom reduced its capacity to supply Nord Stream on the grounds that a turbine was being serviced in Canada. The Russian giant said it could not guarantee the resumption of supply through the pipeline due to the lack of the turbine needed to run a compression station.
But despite the resumption of operations, Moscow has a “weapon” on which the EU’s energy security depends for next winter. Operating at 40% of Nord Stream’s capacity risks supplying businesses and individuals with insufficient supplies during the winter months. To avoid a major crisis, the European Commission proposed on Wednesday 20th a plan to reduce gas demand by 15% in the short term. This proposal, which needs to be discussed by member countries, would limit the heating of some buildings, delay the closure of nuclear power plants and encourage companies to reduce their needs.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, there is a dispute between Russia and the Western countries, which have imposed a wave of sanctions against Moscow. Russia blamed westerners for technical problems in supplying gas to Europe. “It is the restrictions that prevent the repair of equipment, particularly turbines in compressor stations,” Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday. He also described the allegations of “blackmail” with gas against Moscow as “completely false”.
*With information from AFP