Report: Germany needs gas, supports Nord Stream-2 – official

BERLIN, Jan 31 (PRIME) -- Germany plans to abandon coal power generation and nuclear power generation, which means it needs natural gas and supports the Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline project, Dirk Wiese, the German government’s coordinator for cooperation with Russia, said in an interview to local television ARD broadcast on Thursday.

“We will abandon coal in 2038, we will abandon nuclear power generation. We need to cover 100% of our power consumption, so we need natural gas for the transition period. Russia has always been a reliable supplier, and it remains such. That is why we support the Nord Stream-2,” he said.

But ensuring gas transit through Ukraine after 2019 is still necessary for the project to continue, he added.

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 will implement the project together with Germany’s E.ON and BASF, Royal Dutch Shell, OMV, and France’s Engie.

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