Russia announces Nord Stream shutdown in July for repairs
Both strings of the Nord Stream gas pipeline will be shut down from 11 to 21 July for scheduled maintenance work, reported on the website of the pipeline operator, Nord Stream AG. “The work schedule has been agreed and coordinated with the participants for the transportation of gas upstream and downstream,” the company said.
The repair “requires significant and reliable operation of the gas pipeline”, including testing the mechanical components and the emergency system.
Earlier, the Financial Times reported on references to sources about the dangers of Germany due to the shutdown of the gas pipeline. According to experts, Russia may stop gas supplies to the country. Taking into account June, Moscow cut gas supplies via this gas pipeline by 60%, explaining this by solving technical problems. Russia clarified that the German Siemens did not repair the gas pumping units. Siemens, in turn, said that it could not return turbines to Gazprom after repairs from outside Canada. The head of the Supervisory Board of Siemens Energy AG, former Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser denied any connection between the high cost of gas by 60% and the protracted repair of the turbine.
The German Ministry of Economy, as sources told Der Spiegel, thought about nationalizing the section of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that runs through the country. Berlin has considered isolating this part of the gas pipeline and connecting it to a floating LNG terminal in order to transport gas to the southern country with its help, the sources said. The second of the three levels of the “Gas Action Plan” is being activated to the extreme degree in Germany, which involves tightening market monitoring and restoring the operation of some coal-fired power plants. Against this backdrop, electricity prices in Europe rose to their highest level since December.