German authorities are thinking about repurposing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to deliver green hydrogen or natural gas from Finland, GermanysHandelsblattdailyreported Wednesday, pointing out sources knowledgeable about the discussions.Nord Stream 2, originally intended to double Russias direct gas supply capability to Germany, was canceled in early 2022 ahead of Russias invasion of Ukraine.
It was left inoperative following a series ofexplosionsin September 2022 that badly damaged both Nord Stream pipelines.While federal government agents have actually denied any plans to license or restart the task, calls torestart gas deliveries via the pipelinehave been growing recently.Europe remainshooked on Russian gasand the mix of a cold winter and the end of Ukraine gas transit from Jan.
1 will put additional pressure on the EUs ability to provide itself with gas this year.
Future costs for gas sales this summertime have already increased highly in anticipation of shortages.In particular, the idea of rebooting the pipeline has actually been suggestedas abargaining chip in themooted ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukrainethat are anticipated to begin soon.In the meantime, Germany is hunting for ways to enhance its energy security after it was cut off from low-cost Russian piped gas and selected to close down its fleet of effective nuclear power plants.A brand-new pipeline would be too expensive, the report notes, suggesting that repurposing Nord Stream 2 might be a more practical solution.One proposed alternative includes building a different connection from Finland, permitting hydrogen to be transferred via the remaining intact pipeline sections to Germany.
One of the four strands of the Nord Stream pipeline was undamaged in the battle attack.A German government spokesperson toldHandelsblattthat while no formal conversations on resuming the pipeline have happened, authorities do not wish to leave its future to chance.Denmarks Energy Agency gave pipeline operator Nord Stream 2 AG approval to mothball the pipelines facilities in preparation for a possible reboot of its operations.
The choice requires employees to install specially created plugs at each open end of the pipeline to avoid more gas leak and the increase of oxygen-rich seawater.While no official investigations have publicly attributed duty for the September 2022 Nord Stream surges, the incident remains a centerpiece of geopolitical tensions in Europes energy landscape.Media investigations have actually claimed that 3 Ukrainian residents were thought of blowing up the pipelines.
In August 2024, Germany provided an arrest warrant in the Nord Stream battle case for a Ukrainian national living in Poland, who escaped and ran away back to Ukraine.This article first appeared on bne IntelliNews.