UPDATE: Nord Stream 2 AG appeals against DEA request for 3 pipeline route

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MOSCOW, Apr 29 (PRIME) -- Nord Stream 2 AG, the project company of the Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline project, has filed an appeal against the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) request to develop a third route for the pipeline, Dmitry Khandoga, deputy director of Gazprom’s External Economic Affairs Department, said in a conference call on Monday.

“Besides the work on the project itself, the project company and the shareholder – Gazprom – reserved the right for measures of legal protection. In particular, Nord Stream 2 AG filed an appeal against the Danish Energy Agency’s decision to demand a third request on April 17 together with filing of a third request. That is why we also reserve the right and we are already acting in the legal sphere to stay within the schedule (of the Nord Stream-2 project),” he said.

Gazprom still plans to finish construction of the pipeline in 2019, and is working on measures to keep the project within the schedule. The company continues pipe laying in the exclusive economic zones of Finland and Sweden, and finished construction in the German zone. It will only have to lay a small part of the pipeline near Denmark when it receives the permit, Khandoga said.

Another top manager of Gazprom said in the conference call that the company was confident that there is demand for the gas to be pumped through the pipeline and its profitability even in case of a delay, because such projects have a lifespan of 25–30 years or more. “That is why any slight delays in the schedule will not have an impact on the project’s economy even if they happen. The project is still profitable,” the person said.

Nord Stream 2 AG said on March 27 that the DEA had demanded inclusion of an environment impact estimate for the zone to the south of the Bornholm Island. Taking into account that the major route of the pipeline goes through the territorial waters of Denmark to the south of the island, while the alternative route lies to northwest of the island in the country’s exclusive economic zone, the request is in fact a demand to consider the second alternative route for the pipeline.

The company filed for the third pipeline’s route on April 15.

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 is implementing the project together with Germany’s E.ON and BASF, Royal Dutch Shell, OMV, and France’s Engie. The length of the pipeline’s route exceeds 1,200 kilometers.

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