Natural gas began flowing through a major gas pipeline from Russia to Europe on Thursday after a 10-day shutdown for maintenance, the operator said. But the gas flow was expected to be well below its total capacity.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany had been closed since July 11 due to annual maintenance work. Amid growing tensions over Russia’s war in Ukraine, German officials had feared that the pipeline, the country’s main source of Russian gas, which accounted for about a third of Germany’s gas supply, would not be reopen at all.
Operator Nord Stream AG said the gas started flowing again Thursday morning, but that the flow would take a while to increase, the German news agency dpa reported.
Deliveries were expected to fall well below the total capacity of the pipeline. Nord Stream said an amount of gas similar to that seen before maintenance was expected. Germany’s network regulator chief Klaus Mueller said on Twitter that Russia’s Gazprom had notified deliveries of 30% of pipeline capacity on Thursday.
In mid-June, the Russian state-owned company Gazprom reduced the flow to 40% of its capacity. He cited alleged technical problems related to equipment that partner Siemens Energy sent to Canada for review and that could not be returned due to sanctions imposed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ottawa earlier this month gave permission for the turbine that feeds a compression station at the Russian end of the pipeline to be delivered to Germany.
Recent comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Gazprom turbine repairs were interpreted by many as a threat to cut off Europe’s access to Russian gas. (Alexey Maishev / Sputnik / Kremlin pool / The Associated Press)
The German government has rejected Gazprom’s technical explanation of the gas cut, repeatedly accusing it of being a pretext for a political decision to sow uncertainty and further raise energy prices. It has been said that the turbine was a replacement that was only to be installed in September, but that it is doing everything to deprive Russia of the pretext to reduce supplies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Gazprom had not yet received the relevant documents for the return of the turbine, a statement that Gazprom repeated on Wednesday. Putin said Gazprom had to shut down another turbine to repair it by the end of July, and if the one that had been shipped to Canada did not return by then, gas flow would slow further.
The head of the European Union’s Executive Committee, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Wednesday that the turbine was “in transit” and that “there was no pretext for not delivering” gas.
The Commission proposed that member countries reduce their gas use by 15% over the coming months, as the bloc prepares for a possible total cut in gas supplies to Russia.