INTERVIEW: Nord Stream 2 AG to start pipeline construction in Apr–Jun 2018

MOSCOW, Apr 12 (PRIME) -- Nord Stream 2 AG, the project company for laying the Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline, plans to start construction in April–June 2018, Simon Bonnell, authorization documentation overseer at the company, told PRIME in an interview published Wednesday.

The Nord Stream-2 project envisages construction of two lines of a natural gas pipeline with an annual capacity of up to 55 billion cubic meters, running from the Russian shore to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Gazprom plans to implement the project together with Germany’s E.ON and BASF, Royal Dutch Shell, Austria’s OMV, and France’s Engie.

“We expect to receive all necessary permits in the first quarter of 2018 so that we start construction in the second quarter of 2018,” Bonnell said adding that consultations with Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland under the Espoo convention should finish by June 30.

“The process of international consultations on potential trans-border impact within the framework of the so-called Espoo convention was synchronized by all countries of the Baltic Region. This process is joined by the parties of origin, or countries through waters of which the route passes – Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Russia – and parties concerned, or other countries of the Baltic Sea – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland,” he said.

In total, the project has to receive permits from all parties of origin. Sweden granted the permit in September 2016, Germany in March 2017, Denmark in April. In early April, the Russian Natural Resources and Environment Ministry submitted documents on environmental impact assessment of the Nord Stream project to all the countries.

“The schedule sees comments on the projects coming before June 30 (2017)…After that, all five countries through which the route passes have to make conclusions of their own and decide in accordance with aspects of their own national legislation and procedures,” Bonnell said.

The company offered their help in organizing public hearings of the project in the four countries concerned. “We have already received corresponding requests for public hearings from Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia,” he said.

But Nord Stream 2 AG sees no scenario in which a country does not provide its permit. “The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that a country is unable to refuse a permit for construction of a pipeline in its exclusive economic zone if the pipe provides no significant impact on the environment. It is similar to shipping. The main thing here is compliance with environmental demands,” he said.

“We are sure of the minimal ecological impact of the pipeline on the environment. This is proven by six years of ecological monitoring of construction and exploitation of the Nord Stream pipeline. So we see no situation in which any country does not provide a corresponding permit,” he said.

The company plans to spend at least 100 million euros on ecological survey of the Baltic Sea and 40 million euros on ecological monitoring.

“Judging by the experience of the Nord Stream, it spent more than 100 million euros on ecological survey, planning and the estimate of the impact on the environment, and 40 million more were spent on a full-scale program for ecological monitoring. We will have to carry out the complete array of surveys for the new pipeline corridor under the Nord Stream-2, despite the fact that we have results of surveys of the first project. So we plan to spend approximately the same amount of money,” Bonnell said.

The company launched environment impact assessment of the pipeline construction in Russia. Nord Stream 2 AG chose the route through the Narva Bay in the Leningrad Region for the pipeline. “A final decision on the pipeline route on the Russian site will be made by the state environmental authorities,” the company said in a statement.

Grigory Vilchek, head of the Russian group for ecology and permissions of Nord Stream 2 said that this route is the best option. “This region has no naval routes, the closest point to a planned reservation in the Gulf of Finland is about 4 kilometers. The sand bottom is smooth, and the route needs much less dredging works, it is shorter, and it will make a lesser impact on the environment,” he said.

The company may use technologies for seamless construction of the pipeline, including microtunnelling.

“The Russian site would require a 2.4–2.5 kilometer microtunnel. The possibility of its technical implementation is very ambiguous. Nord Stream 2’s engineers and ecologists see the traditional trench method as the major method, but they are analyzing different seamless methods as well. The technical solution will be defined later this year after we have finished necessary technical and engineering surveys,” Bonnell said.

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