Operator says still chances to build Nord Stream-2 by end of 2019

MOSCOW, May 17 (PRIME) – The Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline can still be built on schedule, until the end of 2019, operator Nord Stream 2 AG’s official representative Jens Muller told PRIME on Friday.

“The Nord Stream-2 project can definitely be completed on time. Currently, the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) is reviewing two applications for the Nord Stream-2. For both of them the approval process that included consultations at the level of public and state experts at the national and international level showed that all technical and environmental requirements are met and permission can be issued on both applications,” Muller said.

However, the DEA forced Nord Stream 2 AG to file a third application saying that the company would not receive any response on the northwestern project route in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the country already reviewed by the DEA until it submitted a third application. At the same time, Denmark, since the northwestern route passes through the EEZ, does not have the right to prohibit construction of a gas pipeline if it meets all environmental and technical requirements.

“We do not agree with this decision, in particular, taking into account the right to free pipe installation in the country’s EEZ, according to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), of which Denmark is also a participant ... As a responsible project developer, we must ensure completion of the Nord Stream-2 project, that’s why we submitted an application simultaneously with the filing of an appeal to the Danish Energy Board of Appeal. The appeal states that the decision (of the DEA) of March 26, 2019 is illegal ... That is why it must be cancelled, and the DEA will be able to proceed with the granting of a permit for the northwestern route in the Danish EEZ without delay,” Muller said.

Nord Stream 2 AG said in the third application to the DEA that completion of the construction and the start of its operations could be postponed until the second half of 2020 as Russia has so far failed to secure a construction permit from Denmark. Public hearings in Denmark over the pipeline’s third route will take place on June 19.

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. Russian gas giant Gazprom is implementing the project together with Germany’s E.ON and BASF, Royal Dutch Shell, OMV, and France’s Engie.

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