Nord Stream 1: Pressure drop in both gas tubes in pipeline

Created: 09/26/2022, 22:58

Nord Stream 1 gas pipes: On Monday there was apparently a pressure drop in the pipeline.

© Stefan Sauer/dpa

On Monday, the operator of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline noticed a drop in pressure in both tubes.

The cause has not yet been determined, but the timing is interesting.

Lubmin - The operator of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline has noticed a pressure drop in the German-Russian energy route.

Both tubes are affected, a spokesman for the company told the German Press Agency.

Shortly before that, there had already been problems with Nord Stream 2.

The capacity of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline is unexpectedly reduced to zero

First Nord Stream 2, now there were apparently also technical problems with the sister pipeline Nord Stream 1.

According to market information that is mandatory for network operators, the capacity of the pipeline has unexpectedly dropped to zero.

According to the company, the cause is currently being investigated.

Such a pressure drop had already been detected in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on Monday night.

During the course of Monday, the responsible naval authorities identified a leak south-east of the Danish island of Bornholm as the probable cause.

That is why Nord Stream 1 is currently no longer delivering gas to Germany anyway

While the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was never put into operation after its completion, but only filled with gas once, gas flowed to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline until the beginning of September.

In June, however, the Russian state-owned company Gazprom reduced deliveries via Nord Stream 1 to Germany by 60 percent.

Then, after standard maintenance work, the Russian company made the continued operation of the pipeline dependent on the return of a turbine that had been serviced in Canada.

Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) spoke at the time of a pretext from Russia.

Gazprom has enough operational turbines, Habeck said at the time.

According to the federal government, Moscow is using gas as a means of exerting pressure on foreign policy.

After the Russian state-owned company Gazprom had previously reduced its deliveries through the tube, it stopped them completely with reference to an oil leak in the Portovaya compressor station.

The German side was well prepared.

"Due to the increased measures taken in recent months, Germany is now better prepared for a failure in Russian deliveries," the Federal Network Agency said.

The gas storage tanks were 85 percent full at the beginning of September.

A filling level of 90 percent is usually targeted by November 1

.