Defense, Politics | Danish authorities: Half of the gas in the pipelines has leaked out
– The status is that well over half of the gas has pulled out of the pipelines, because the pressure was greatest at the beginning, stated the Danish Energy Agency’s director Kristoffer Bötzauw at a press conference in Copenhagen on Wednesday afternoon.
– We expect that the rest of the gas will leak out before Sunday, he added.
Not in operation
Neither of the two pipelines, of which Russia’s Gazprom is the main owner, was in operation when the leaks occurred, but the pipes were full of stagnant gas under pressure.
Nord Stream 2 was completed in autumn 2021, but was never put into use as a result of Russia’s threats against Ukraine and the invasion of the country in February.
This pipeline must have contained around 300 million cubic meters of stagnant gas.
Climate release
From the Russian side, the transport of gas via Nord Stream 1 had also stopped completely, allegedly as a result of maintenance work.
It is not known how much stagnant gas was in this pipeline when the leak occurred.
According to Böttzauw, the gas that has escaped corresponds to 32 percent of Denmark’s total climate burden over the course of a year.
In the worst case, the gas from the two pipelines corresponds to around 14.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents, according to the Danish Energy Agency.
Explosions
What caused the leaks on the two pipelines, which have a diameter of one and a half meters, have 12 cm thick steel walls and are covered in concrete, no one knows beforehand.
Both Danish, Swedish and Norwegian seismologists registered powerful explosions at the same time as the leaks occurred, and the authorities in the three countries have concluded that it was probably a matter of sabotage.
Denmark has the preparedness level within the energy sector, but does not wish to provide concrete information regarding this.
(© NTB)