Russia has announced that it will suspend gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in the Baltic Sea for three days at the end of August. From August 31 to September 2, no gas will flow to Germany due to maintenance work, Gazprom announced on Friday. After that, 33 million cubic meters of natural gas should flow again every day. This corresponds to 20 percent of the daily maximum output.
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. When asked, Siemens Energy did not comment on Gazprom’s announcement. A spokesman for the Federal Network Agency said in the evening that the situation was being monitored in close cooperation with the gas industry and the Federal Ministry of Economics. The gas flow via Nord Stream 1 is currently unchanged at 20 percent.
Back and forth around turbine
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.