Russian state energy company Gazprom says it will have to further reduce the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Wednesday as it shuts down another turbine for repairs.
It comes days after Gazprom resumed gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, a vital artery linking Russia’s vast gas reserves to Europe via Germany. The pipeline was shut down for 10 days for scheduled maintenance, and many feared that Russia would not resume supplies once the work was completed.
“Due to the expiry of the scheduled time before overhaul (in accordance with Rostechnadzor’s notification and taking into account the technical condition of the relevant machine), Gazprom shuts down another gas turbine manufactured by Siemens in Portovaya [compressor station]”, the company said in a statement on Monday.
“The daily output of KS Portovaya from 7:00 a.m. (Moscow time) on July 27 will be up to 33 million cubic meters,” the statement said.
The head of Germany’s gas regulator, Klaus Mueller, confirmed the move in a tweet on Monday.
“To the best of our knowledge, there is no technical reason for the reduction of gas supplies via Nord Stream 1,” Germany’s economy ministry insisted in a tweet on Monday.
“If Russian gas supplies via Nord Stream 1 continue at this low level, a storage level of 95% until November is difficult to achieve without further measures,” Germany’s gas and electricity regulator said in a statement on Monday.
The country’s economy minister, Robert Habeck, earlier called on Germans to reduce gas consumption so that gas storage can be as full as possible for the winter.
Germany’s current total gas reserves are 65.9%, according to daily data provided by the government.
The reduction of gas through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline will also affect the transfer of gas to other European countries such as France, Austria and the Czech Republic.
Wholesale prices have risen sharply as a result of gas supply cuts and have recently settled higher, the German regulator said, warning that “businesses and private consumers should prepare for significantly higher gas prices”.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline delivers 55 billion cubic meters of gas annually, or nearly 40% of the bloc’s total imports from Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Pesko said on Monday that the repaired gas turbine for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would be installed after all technical procedures had been completed, after which gas flow to Europe would be resumed “as far as technologically possible”.
Peskov insisted that the problems with gas supplies had nothing to do with politics.
“There is no politics here. These are the consequences of the restrictions that the Europeans themselves have introduced, and the Europeans themselves are suffering from these restrictions,” he said, adding that Russia does not want Europe to give up Russian gas.
Moscow will continue to be a “reliable supplier of gas,” he said.
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