The Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which transports Russian gas to Europe, resumed work this morning, after its maintenance was completed.
And the German news agency reported that gas shipments resumed through the “Nord Stream 1” pipeline this morning, Thursday, after maintenance, and gas returned to flow again. The operator of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline also announced the first flow of Russian gas to Germany.
There were concerns that Russia would extend maintenance of “Nord Stream 1,” through which more than a third of Russian gas shipments to the European Union pass.
The Nord Stream 1 crisis dates back to July 11, when Gazprom began 10-day periodic maintenance of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which led to a decrease in gas supplies to Europe.
Russian energy giant Gazprom has cut the amount of oil it sends to Germany via Nord Stream 1 by nearly 60 percent in recent weeks, blaming it for not taking delivery of a Siemens gas turbine sent for maintenance to Canada.
Nord Stream 1 has had a capacity of 40 percent since June 14, as Russia cut supplies drastically, and Russian gas giant Gazprom attributed the 60 percent drop to unsolvable equipment problems because of the sanctions.
After intense pressure from Germany, Canada agreed on Saturday to make an exception in its sanctions against Russia, to allow the export of a critical piece of equipment expected to help solve equipment problems on the pipeline and return supply levels to normal.
But the Europeans were afraid that Moscow would not re-pump gas, especially since it reduced its shipments through the aforementioned pipeline in the past weeks.
Italy and Germany have warned that Moscow may use the pipeline as an excuse to continue sending less gas to Europe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said late yesterday that the pipeline’s capacity could be further reduced due to slow progress in repairing equipment. He warned that flows would be curbed unless a dispute over sanctioned parts was resolved.
Also yesterday, the head of the Federal Network Agency in Germany, Klaus Muller, announced that the Russian gas company “Gazprom” had reduced the amount of gas that was announced to resume pumping into the “Nord Stream 1” line today, after the completion of maintenance work, repairs to 30 percent of the line’s maximum transmission capacity.
Mueller wrote on “Twitter” yesterday evening that it is expected, about 530 gigawatts per hour will be supplied today, pointing out that this amount is equivalent to about 30% of the maximum transmission capacity of the line.
According to the website of the Nord Stream 1 line, the amount that was pumped in the days preceding the maintenance work was close to 700 GWh.
On Wednesday, Brussels proposed a plan aimed at reducing European demand for gas by 15 percent to overcome the decline in Russian supplies, by reducing the heating of some buildings, delaying the closure of nuclear power plants, encouraging companies to reduce their needs, and other measures.
In order to prepare for winter, the European Commission has prepared a set of measures that will enable the 27 countries of the European Union to deal with a possible disruption of Russian supplies, which until last year accounted for 40 percent of their imports.
“Russia is using gas as a weapon. In the event of a total breakdown, Europe must be ready,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The plan, which still needs to be discussed by member states, declares that each country will have to “do everything in its power” to reduce its gas consumption, between August 2022 and March 2023, by at least 15 percent compared to the average of the past five years for the same period. Countries will have to provide details of a roadmap by the end of September to achieve this.
