Construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is 75% complete, according to a press release issued by the project operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, on 26 August. This information was confirmed by Gazprom's CEO, Alexei Miller.
Nord Stream 2 AG has announced that it has built three-quarters of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. 1,855 kilometres of pipes, making up 75% of the length of the two sections of the pipeline, have already been laid.
“Construction of both sections of the pipeline has been completed in German and Finnish territorial waters. Pipe-laying continues in Russian territorial waters. Construction work on the German and Russian coastlines is at an advanced stage”, the statement said.
The Nord Stream 2 project has been developed by the Russian company Gazprom, in cooperation with European companies Engie, OMV, Shell, Uniper and Wintershall.
It involves construction of a gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic metres per year linking the Russian coast to Germany via the Baltic Sea. It is expected to be operational by the end of 2019. Ukraine is actively opposed to its construction for fear of losing revenue from Russian gas transiting its territory. Some EU countries (Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia), along with the United States, which is working hard to sell its liquefied natural gas to the EU, are also among the project's opponents.
At the end of July, the company undertaking Nord Stream 2 brought an action for annulment before the General Court of the European Union in order to obtain the cancellation of the new directive on common rules for the internal market in natural gas (see EUROPE 12307/18, 12193/16). The amendment to the directive “was clearly designed and adopted to disadvantage and discourage the Nord Stream 2 pipeline”, the company argued. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)