An employee examines a turbine of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline at the Siemens Energy plant in Muelheim an der Ruhr, western Germany, on August 3. SASCHA SCHUERMANN/AFP/Getty Images
German officials say Russia’s three-day maintenance shutdown of the crucial Nord Stream gas pipeline to Germany is unnecessary and fear the temporary supply freeze could continue.
The shutdown of the Baltic Sea’s Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which began at 3 a.m. Wednesday and will last until Saturday morning, makes no technical sense, said Klaus Mueller, president of the Federal Network Agency. which oversees the gas market in Germany.
“The renewed need for maintenance claimed by the Russian side is technically incomprehensible,” he said, adding that the work is not part of the regular maintenance cycle.
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Missing gas volumes will not be replaced by displaced flows from other sources, Mr. Mueller, adding that Germany is now better prepared for disruptions as its gas storage facilities are 83 percent full. “So the delivery stop on Nord Stream 1 announced for three days is bearable,” he said.
But any possible extension would be a real threat, Mueller told The Globe and Mail. “Given Russia’s actions in recent weeks, it is conceivable that deliveries will not resume after the delivery halt,” he warned.
Gas deliveries through Nord Stream 1, which is the key gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, were suspended for several days in July. At the time, it was due to annual maintenance work, which Nord Stream AG, as the operating company, had previously announced.
Russian state energy giant Gazprom said in a statement that the three-day shutdown is necessary because the only operating turbine at the Portovaya compressor station in Russia needs to be checked and overhauled.
The Nord Stream 1 compressor station consists of two tubes, each with three large turbines. A total of five of the turbines must be running for the pipeline to reach 100 percent capacity. One of the turbines usually installed at the station has recently had maintenance work done at a Siemens Energy facility in Montreal.
Gazprom has cited faulty or delayed equipment and missing turbines as the main reasons for reducing deliveries through Nord Stream.
Before Wednesday’s complete shutdown, only one turbine was running at the compressor station, which had reduced the flow of natural gas to Germany to 20 percent of normal levels. Russia blamed this on the fact that Nord Stream still does not have the turbine that Canada has returned from Montreal.
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said on Wednesday that Western sanctions mean Siemens Energy cannot carry out regular maintenance on pipeline equipment needed to ensure the smooth transport of gas.
“Our opponents have issued so many sanction documents that they have created a situation, which could be called a confusion of sanctions,” said Mr. Miller quoted by the Interfax news agency.
A yacht sails past a gas flare in Portovaya Bay on the coast of the Gulf of Finland in Russia’s Leningrad Region on August 26. Gazprom has said the three-day shutdown is necessary because the only operating turbine at the Portovaya compressor station needs to be overhauled and overhauled.STRINGER/Reuters
Siemens Energy, which has done maintenance work on compressors and turbines at the station in the past, said in a statement on Wednesday that it is not involved in maintaining the compressor station but is ready to advise Gazprom if needed. The company said it had no reports of any turbines requiring maintenance other than the one recently shipped from Canada.
Mr. Mueller said Russia’s comments about the turbines are a pretext to justify stopping gas shipments.
Meanwhile, at Portovaya, a working replacement turbine is available, Christian Bruch, chief executive of Siemens Energy, said recently. “However, Gazprom usually only uses this spare part when the original is back,” he said.
Russia has refused to accept the turbine returned to Germany from Montreal, saying it wants more documentation to prove the equipment is not subject to Western sanctions.
Sabine Sill, a spokeswoman for Siemens Energy, told The Globe in an email that the turbine in service in Canada “is still currently at our plant in Mulheim an der Ruhr. The transportation of the turbine is ready and could begin immediately He said that the company has all the necessary documents to export from Germany to Russia since mid-July and has informed Gazprom.
“What is missing, however, are the necessary customs documents for import into Russia. This information can only be provided by the customer. This situation remains unchanged,” said Ms. saddle
The turbine in service is protected by a steel housing as a transport packaging. Installation on Nord Stream 1 had been scheduled for September.
The Canadian government has granted an exemption from sanctions it placed on Gazprom over Russia’s military assault on Ukraine to allow six Nord Stream 1 turbines to undergo maintenance in Montreal.
In the past, Gazprom shipped the turbines to Canada by ship and had them transported back later. The sanctions meant that the turbine could not be shipped directly to Russia.
The usual maintenance interval for normal turbine operation is three to five years.
“The maintenance of our turbines is and remains a routine operation,” said Ms. Seat at The Globe. “There have been no significant complications in the last 10 years. The current Canadian government approval also allows the additional turbines to be repaired and subsequently exported by Siemens Energy in Montreal.”
Gazprom has not yet given a new date for the next shutdown. But according to the company, the last remaining turbine at the Portovaya compressor station must be serviced every 1,000 hours of operation. That means the next shutdown is likely to happen in mid-October.
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The Canadian press
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