After gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in the Baltic Sea were cut back, the Russian energy giant Gazprom has complained that the problems with a gas turbine returned to Europe from Canada persisted. The turbine was brought from Canada to Germany and not directly to Russia without consultation and contrary to the contract with Gazprom, said the deputy head of the state-owned company, Vitaly Markelov, on Friday, according to a statement. Accordingly, the turbine should have been back in Russia in May.
Not Gazprom is responsible for the situation, but Siemens Energy, said Markelow. The sooner the company fulfills its contractual obligations at the Portovaya compressor station, the sooner the situation with deliveries for the European market will normalize. In addition, Russia can only accept the repaired turbine if there are guarantees from the EU and Great Britain that Western sanctions will not be applied.
The federal government accuses Russia of playing power games over the turbine. This is ready to be returned to Russia. In addition, there are no technical reasons for the throttling of gas deliveries through Nord Stream 1, it said in Berlin.
Markelov rejected the accusations from the West. "It's all the other way around," he said. There are a multitude of problems. A turbine has been ready for transport to the plant in Canada since April. To date, however, there have been no documents permitting the transport and repair of the engines. In addition, there are problems with three turbines that should be fixed on the spot by Siemens experts. The machines had therefore failed several times.
"We eagerly await the arrival of their specialists at the compressor station," said Markelow. Gazprom has now written ten letters to Siemens Energy, but only a quarter of the problems have been resolved. The company published some of the letters. At the moment, only one of six turbines is in use in the gas compressor station, which is important for Nord Stream 1, said Markelow.
The Kremlin had said the day before that Russia hoped for a speedy return of the turbine and its installation. According to Gazprom, the turbine is important in order to build up the necessary pressure to pump the gas through. Gazprom has repeatedly accused its contractual partner Siemens Energy of not having sent the necessary documents and information to repair the machine. Siemens Energy rejected Gazprom's allegations.
On Wednesday, Gazprom reduced deliveries through Nord Stream 1 to 20 percent of maximum capacity because, according to the company, one turbine still had to be serviced. Technical safety regulations were given as reasons.
Gazprom Correspondence Gazprom Communication
