Russia shuts off Nord Stream 1 for three days

Created: 08/19/2022Updated: 08/19/2022 18:47

Gazprom announces a three-day shutdown of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline from the end of August.

© Stefan Sauer/dpa

A fifth as much gas as actually could have been flowing through the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 for weeks.

Now it is to stand still for three days - allegedly because of the overhaul of a turbine.

Moscow - Russia has announced that it will interrupt gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline for three days at the end of August.

The state-owned company Gazprom announced that no gas would flow to Germany from August 31 to September 2 due to maintenance work.

After that, 33 million cubic meters of natural gas should be delivered daily.

This corresponds to the 20 percent of the daily maximum output to which Russia reduced deliveries a few weeks ago.

The only functioning turbine at the Portovaya compressor station must be checked and overhauled in the three days, Gazprom said.

This should be done in cooperation with specialists from Siemens Energy.

Nord Stream 1 has been transporting to Germany since 2011

Gazprom had long since throttled the gas flow to 33 million cubic meters because of allegedly necessary repairs.

In order to retrieve a turbine repaired in Canada, Germany asked the government in Ottawa for an exemption from sanctions against Moscow.

But when the unit was back in Germany, Gazprom showed no rush to install it.

Gazprom spoke of missing papers.

The federal government therefore accused Moscow of only pretending to have the technical problems.

Because of the Russian attack on Ukraine, Germany is trying to reduce its dependence on Russian natural gas.

Other suppliers are being sought to fill the storage tanks for the heating season.

The double pipeline Nord Stream 1 has been transporting gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany since 2011.

dpa