Will This be The Final Round: Nord Stream 2 vs The Threats
The Russian- German gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 is under controversy over years for energy security, geopolitical issues and also on the environmental impact that the project could create. The controversy again freshened up when Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition and anti-corruptionist was poisoned by a nerve agent on 20 August.
Nord Stream 2, the 1,200 km long pipeline connecting Europe with Northern Russia, was proposed to supply gas to approximately 26 million households per year with 55 million cubic metres that can cover up the one-third of energy requirement for the next two decades and the construction activities started in May 2018 at Greifswald, Germany. The construction budget was estimated to be $11bn, invested by Gazprom (Russia’s giant gas company), Engie, OMV, Royal Dutch Shell, Uniper, and Wintershall.
The main scope of the project is to save about 14% of the EU’s carbon emissions by replacing coal with natural gas to power. This would increase Russia’s gas supply to 40%. The pipeline was originally expected to be completed by 2019 or early 2020. But, when the pipeline was 94% over that is, 160km long in Danish waters, the construction was halted due to threats from the US and the rest of the pipeline laying process in Russia and Germany endpoints are yet to be completed.
From the early stage of the construction, the project faced opposition from many countries including the US. The considerable argument point from the opposition countries- Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania is that Europe would be dependent on Russia in gas supply. The few notable controversies and threats to the pipeline are,
- Said that the pipeline will seize the transit fee for Ukraine from the existing pipeline infrastructure.
- Ukraine, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Poland, Romania and Slovakia objected to the construction of Nord Stream 2 in 2015.
- In 2016 Ukraine filed a lawsuit with the Energy Community Secretariat of the European Union to stop the construction.
- Rebacca Herms, Member of European parliament’s Energy Committee argued that Russia uses Europe’s gas import money to invest in producing fossil fuel. And Europe will not be able to meet their decarbonisation target if the government continues the project.
- The US sent a letter to the companies involved in the project warning the sanctions against them in January 2019. As a consequence, the pipe laying company Allseas withdrew from the project in December 2019.
- Denmark temporarily banned the construction works in its territorial waters on July 26, 2020.
But, the Russian government and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were determined in completing the pipeline with Gazprom’s vessel after the withdrawal of Allseas. On August 20, Alexei Navalny was poisoned by the Novichok group during his return to Moscow, put him in coma and this pressured Angela Merkel to withdraw her support for the pipeline.
Angela Merkel said earlier that “We also consider illegal these extraterritorial sanctions, in other words, sanctions that go beyond the territory of the U.S.,”. The Chancellor is expected to make a conclusion on the pipeline project support in terms of the events and oppositions. Her recent statement goes,
“I think that we should see decoupled from that (Navalny case). Our opinion is that Nord Stream 2 should be completed,”.
The expectations grow on Nord Stream 2 and few German officials are expecting this to be the final controversy they are facing. Will German withdraw from the project or will continue and complete, is still a wait and watch.
