Natural gas began flowing through a major pipeline from Russia to Europe on Thursday after a 10-day maintenance shutdown, but gas flow remained well below full capacity and the outlook was uncertain, leaving leaves Europe still facing the prospect of a harsh winter. .
The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea to Germany had been closed from july 11 for annual maintenance work. Amid rising tensions over Russia’s war in UkraineGerman officials feared that the pipeline, the country’s main source of Russian gas, which recently accounted for about a third of Germany’s gas supply, might not reopen absolutely.
Network data showed gas was beginning to arrive via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline as scheduled after 6 a.m., with the operator saying it had “successfully completed all planned maintenance work.” But deliveries were still well below the pipeline’s full capacity, as they had been for weeks before the maintenance break.
The head of Germany’s grid regulator, Klaus Mueller, said Russia’s Gazprom had notified deliveries on Thursday of around 30% of the pipeline’s capacity. He later tweeted that actual deliveries were above that amount and could reach the pre-maintenance level of around 40%.
That would not be enough to solve Europe’s energy crisis. “Unfortunately, political uncertainty and the 60% reduction since mid-June remain,” Mueller wrote.
when gazprom reduced the flow last month, it cited alleged technical problems related to equipment that partner Siemens Energy sent to Canada for review and could not be returned due to sanctions imposed over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Canadian government earlier this month gave permission for the turbine powering a compressor station at the Russian end of the pipeline to be delivered to Germany.
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The German government has rejected Gazprom’s technical explanation for the gas cut, repeatedly accusing it was just a pretext for a political decision to sow uncertainty and push energy prices even higher. He has said that the turbine was a replacement that was only supposed to be installed in septemberbut that he is doing everything possible to deprive Russia of the pretext to reduce supplies.
russian president vladimir putin It said on Tuesday that Gazprom had not yet received the relevant documents for the turbine’s return and on Wednesday questioned the quality of the repair work. Putin said Gazprom would shut down another turbine for repairs at the end of July, and if the one shipped to Canada was not returned by then, the flow of gas would decrease further.
The head of the European Union’s Executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Wednesday that the turbine was “in transit” and that there was “no pretext not to deliver” gas.
Key gas pipeline from #Russia to #Europe restarts after break. #NordStream1 #UkraineInvasion
Simone Tagliapietra, an energy policy expert at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels, said Russia was playing a “strategic game”.
“Keeping flows low is better than cutting. It lessens Europe’s resolve to reduce gas demand,” she said. He warned that Europe must go into crisis mode anyway “because a disruption is likely to happen in the winter. And every cubic meter of gas saved now makes Europe more resilient in the coming months.”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that “today it underlines, even if there is an announcement that gas is flowing again, that this war is not only being carried out with weapons against Ukraine, but that the hybrid war it also means using energy dependency as a means of warfare. ”
The European Commission proposed this week that member countries reduce your gas usage by 15% in the coming months as the bloc prepares for a possible total gas supply cutoff by Russia.
Germany and the rest of Europe are scrambling to fill gas storage in time for winter and reduce their dependence on Russian energy imports. Germany has the largest economy in Europe; the gas is important to power their industries, provide heating, and to some extent generate electricity.
Last month, the government activated the second phase of Germany three-stage emergency plan for natural gas supply, warning that Europe’s largest economy was facing a “crisis” and winter storage targets were at risk. As of Wednesday, Germany’s gas storage was 65.1% full.
To make up for shortfalls, the German government has given utilities the green light to turn on 10 idle coal-fired power plants and six oil-fired ones. Another 11 coal-fired power plants scheduled to close in November will be allowed to continue operating.