Although the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2 is not used for gas imports, it is still full. A drop in pressure has now been detected. The cause is unclear. The investigation of the incident is also extremely difficult.
According to the operator, there was a pressure drop in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline on Monday night. A pressure loss was found in tube A, and the responsible naval authorities in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Russia were informed immediately, said the spokesman for the pipeline operator Nord Stream 2 AG, Ulrich Lissek. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
"There must be a hole somewhere," said Lissek. "Only nobody knows where." It could be that gas escapes in the offshore area. If that were the case on land, you would notice it. Normally there is a pressure of 105 bar. Now it is only 7 bar on the German side.
Research into the causes is very difficult for Nord Stream 2 AG: They are under sanctions, have hardly any staff and funds are frozen. "The authorities are all informed." To his knowledge, there are no Nord Stream 2 AG staff in Lubmin, the place where the pipeline lands in Germany. You can't place any orders either, because you can't pay for them, and you have to see where you can get information from, said Lissek.
The Federal Ministry of Economics said: "Today we were informed by the network operator Gascade that there was a sharp drop in pressure in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. We are currently in contact with the authorities concerned to clarify the matter." There is still no clarity about the causes and the exact facts. It is also still being clarified whether the incident occurred in German territorial waters.
"Specifically, the exchange between the BMWK, the network operator, the Federal Network Agency, the Federal Police and the local mining authority in Stralsund and the responsible state ministries in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is ongoing," it said. In addition, the Danish authorities were also informed as a precaution. The company Gascade said they had found an anomaly. The company operates gas infrastructure in Lubmin, to which Nord Stream 2 is also connected. However, Gascade is not responsible for the Nord Stream 2 offshore pipelines.
According to the German Environmental Aid (DUH), a leak in the gas pipeline would have little impact on the marine environment in the Baltic Sea. Natural gas is methane, which is partially soluble in water and is not toxic, said a DUH spokesman in Berlin. The greater the water depth at which gas is released, the higher the proportion of the greenhouse gas that is dissolved in the water.
Environmental aid sees the possible effects on flora and fauna as limited. Even in the case of an underwater explosion, there would only be local effects. The spokesman, on the other hand, emphasized that escaping methane is very harmful to the climate.
The double strand of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline runs 1,230 kilometers from Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The pipeline is completed and filled with gas, but gas has never been imported through it. The federal government put the approval process on hold in February shortly before the Russian attack on Ukraine and also emphasized afterwards that commissioning was out of the question.
Shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States imposed sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and made all transactions with the Swiss-based company impossible. Only recently was an impending bankruptcy averted again. The responsible court extended a provisional debt restructuring moratorium until January 10, 2023. Creditors will not be able to collect any money with it until at least January. A trustee appointed by the court can examine whether a restructuring or an agreement with the creditors has a chance of success. If this is not the case, bankruptcy proceedings must be opened under Swiss law.
