Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline

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This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor and the Center for Media and Democracy.
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Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline is a proposed natural gas pipeline.[1]

Location

The pipeline would run from Ust-Luga, Russia to Greifswald, Germany.

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Project Details

  • Operator: Nord Stream 2 AG
  • Owner: Gazprom 50%, BASF/Wintershall 10%, Engie 10%, E.On 10%, OMV 10%; Shell 10%
  • Proposed capacity: 55 billion cubic meters
  • Length: 764 miles / 1,230 kilometers
  • Status: Construction
  • Start Year: 2020

Background

In 2011, Nord Stream AG started evaluation of an expansion of the Nord Stream Gas Pipeline project which would include two additional lines (later named Nord Stream 2) to increase the overall annual capacity up to 110 billion cubic meters (3.9 trillion cubic feet). In August 2012, Nord Stream AG applied to the Finnish and Estonian governments for route studies in their underwater exclusive economic zones for the third and fourth lines.[2] The idea of routing the additional pipelines to the United Kingdom was considered but abandoned.[3][4] In January 2015, it was announced that the expansion project was put on hold since the existing lines were running at only half capacity due to EU restrictions on Gazprom.[5]

In June 2015, an agreement to build two additional lines was signed between Gazprom, Royal Dutch Shell, E.ON, OMV, and Engie.[6] As the creation of a joint venture was blocked by Poland, on 24 April 2017, Uniper, Wintershall, Engie, OMV and Royal Dutch Shell signed a financing agreement with Nord Stream 2 AG, a subsidiary of Gazprom responsible for the development of the Nord Stream 2 project. According to the agreement, each of five companies will provide €950 million, of which €285 million should be paid in 2017. The loan from the five companies will cover 50% of the project costs of €9.5 billion. The rest would be financed by Gazprom who remains the sole shareholder of Nord Stream 2 AG.[7] Although the pipeline has received no formal approvals from Denmark, Sweden and Finland, it is scheduled to become operational in 2019–2020.[7][8] In August 2019 the pipeline was reported to be 70% complete.[9]

The route of additional lines would mainly follow the route of existing lines, except in the Russian onshore and offshore sections.[3][10] In Russia, 866 km (538 mi) of new pipeline and three compressor stations would be built, and five existing compressor stations would be expanded for feeding Nord Stream 2. Nord Stream 2 will start at the Slavyanskaya compressor station near Ust-Luga port, located 2.8 km (1.7 mi) southeast of the village of Bolshoye Kuzyomkino (Narvusi) in the Kingiseppsky District of the Leningrad Oblast, in the historical Ingria close to the Estonian border. Its landfall would be at the Kurgalsky Peninsula on the shore of Narva Bay.[10]

European & American Opposition

The president of the European Council Donald Tusk has said that Nord Stream 2 is not in the EU's interests.[11] Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have questioned the different treatment of Nord Stream II and South Stream projects.[11][12] The project is considered to violate the long-term declared strategy of the EU to diversify its gas supplies.[13] A letter, signed by the leaders of nine EU countries, has been sent to the EC in March 2016, warning that the Nord Stream 2 project contradicts the European energy policy requirements that suppliers to the EU should not control the energy transmission assets, and that access to the energy infrastructure must be secured for non-consortium companies.[14][15] A letter by American lawmakers John McCain and Marco Rubio to the EU also criticized the project in July 2016.[16] Isabelle Kocher, chief executive officer of Engie, criticised American sanctions targeting the projects, and said they were an attempt to promote American gas in Europe.[17] Although construction has started on Nord Stream 2, the government of Denmark wants to have its foreign ministry prevent it being routed through Danish waters, and a bill is proposed to go through Parliament in October 2017, giving the foreign ministry the authority to do so. Supporters of the pipeline, including Germany, believe that unlawful deference has been made to US wishes of the project not proceeding.[18] In July 2019, citing opposition from the Danish government, Nord Stream 2's sponsors formally withdrew their application to build the pipeline through Danish territory.[19]

In January 2018, United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the U.S. and Poland "oppose" the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. They see it as undermining Europe's overall energy security and stability.[20] On January 31, 2018, Germany granted Nord Stream 2 a permit for construction and operation in German waters and landfall areas near Lubmin. [21] In March 2018 Nordstream 2 AG received permits for construction and operation of the pipeline in the German Exclusive Economic Zone.[22]

Articles and resources

References

  1. ↑ Nord Stream, Wikipedia, accessed April 2018
  2. ↑ "Nord Stream seeks to study Estonian economic zone in Baltic until 2015" (27 August 2012). Retrieved on 15 September 2012. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Nord Stream AG (2013). "Nord Stream Extension Project Information Document (PID)" (PDF). Ministry of the Environment of Estonia. Retrieved on 19 June 2015. 
  4. ↑ Loukashov, Dmitry (12 December 2008). "Nord Stream: is the UK extension good for Gazprom?". Retrieved on 19 June 2015. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. 
  5. ↑ Pinchuk, Denis (28 January 2015). "Gazprom mothballs extension of Nord Stream pipeline". Retrieved on 19 June 2015. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. 
  6. ↑ "Exclusive: Gazprom building global alliance with expanded Shell" (12 December 2008). Retrieved on 19 June 2015. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Gazprom to receive funding for Nord Stream 2 pipeline" (24 April 2017). Retrieved on 30 April 2017. 
  8. ↑ "Nord Stream 2 financing takes shape", Deutsche Welle (24 April 2017). Retrieved on 30 April 2017. 
  9. ↑ U.S. Efforts To Derail Russian Pipelines To Europe Have Failed Since The 1960s. Will Nord Stream 2 Be Any Different?, Radio Free Europe, Aug. 13, 2019
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Ramboll, Nord Stream AG (April 2017). "Espoo Report. Nord Stream 2" (PDF): 79–80; 523. Ministry of the Environment of Estonia. Retrieved on 3 May 2017. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Teffer, Peter (18 December 2015). "Tusk: Nord Stream II doesn't help". Retrieved on 5 June 2016. 
  12. ↑ Steinhauser, Gabriele (18 December 2015). "Germany’s Merkel Defends Russian Gas Pipeline Plan". Retrieved on 5 June 2016. 
  13. ↑ "Nord Stream 2: Trojan Horse or Guarantee of Security", Natural Gas Europe (23 March 2016). Retrieved on 30 April 2017. 
  14. ↑ Sytas, Andrius (16 March 2016). "EU leaders sign letter objecting to Nord Stream-2 gas link". Retrieved on 30 April 2017. 
  15. ↑ Rettman, Andrew (17 March 2016). "Eastern EU leaders to warn Juncker on Nord Stream II", EUobserver. Retrieved on 30 April 2017. 
  16. ↑ "United States is attacking Russia’s gas projects in Europe", Eurasia Daily (14 July 2016). Retrieved on 30 April 2017. 
  17. ↑ Germany, Austria Tell U.S. Not to Interfere in EU Energy. Bloomberg Markets. Bloomberg (15 June 2017). Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved on 30 September 2017.
  18. ↑ 02.09.2017. Media: the Danish authorities intend to "push" the law against the "Nord stream-2" | The Newspapers.
  19. ↑ Nord Stream-2 pulls plug on Danish route for Russian gas, New Europe, Jul. 2, 2019
  20. ↑ U.S.'s Tillerson Says Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Would Undermine Europe's Energy Security. Reuters. Retrieved on 27 January 2018.
  21. ↑ Germany grants permit for Nord Stream 2 Russian gas pipeline. Reuters. Retrieved on 14 February 2018.
  22. ↑ Nord Stream 2 receives full set of permits in Germany, Interfax-Ukraine, Mar. 27, 2018

Related SourceWatch articles

External resources

External articles

Wikipedia also has an article on Nord Stream (Nord Stream). This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License].

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