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Russia announced that it will stop the supply of natural gas through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline for three days, arguing maintenance work. This is the second cut made in the last two months by Gazprom, the company in charge. With the new interruption in service, the tension in the European Union, highly dependent on Russian supply, increases.
The Russian company Gazprom announced that it will stop supplying gas through Nord Stream 1 from August 31 to September 2 to carry out maintenance work.
“The Trent 60, the only pumping equipment in operation, will stop for three days to carry out technical service and routine maintenance,” the company reported.
The gas travels through the gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea, from the north of Russia to Germany, where it is distributed to the rest of the countries of the European Union (EU). According to the Russian company, the maintenance will be carried out in conjunction with Germany’s Siemens.
“In accordance with the technical documentation of the Siemens company, every 1,000 hours it is necessary to carry out technical maintenance on the equipment, which includes checking the chassis for cracks, deformations and burn marks,” Gazprom said through Telegram.
It is expected that when the service is resumed, the pumping of the 33 million cubic meters per day that it currently transports will be resumed. However, this announcement increases the tension between Russia and the EU, making the pressure on the region, which depends on Russian gas for its operation, more noticeable.
In recent months, EU countries have strongly condemned President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine, as they seek to avoid relying entirely on Russian gas and stock up on enough energy to last through the winter.
An energetic confrontation that is becoming more and more noticeable
Previously, in July, Gazprom had already made a first cut for 10 days, also arguing maintenance work. Although the service was restored on July 27, it was done at a capacity of 20%. Berlin has said that Russia uses natural gas as a “war strategy.”
These maintenance orders have deepened an energy standoff, raising inflation in the region and the risk of energy rationing and recession, especially for Germany, which relies heavily on deliveries from Moscow to keep its industry running.
“Russia is blackmailing us, Russia is using energy as a weapon. Therefore, whether there is a total or partial cut, Europe must be prepared”, declared the president of the EU, Ursula von der Leyen last July.
Similarly, EU representatives have asked their countries to act as if the gas supply had already been completely cut off by Putin. They have set the goal of voluntarily saving 15% of gas consumption in households between August and March of next year.
With this strategy, it seeks to avoid mandatory cuts during the winter, while governments look for alternatives to Russian gas. For its part, Germany has injected more than 15 billion euros into Uniper UN01.DE, its largest importer of Russian gas and the high-profile company most affected by the energy crisis.
The importer has reported losses of more than 12 billion euros since it began buying gas elsewhere at much higher prices.
In addition, one of the Nord Stream 1 turbines is stopped in Germany, after being taken for maintenance in Canada. Berlin says it can be returned to Russia at any time, but Moscow says Western sanctions have prevented the part from being shipped back to Russia.
Nord Stream 2, a possible alternative, according to Russia
Senior German politicians from both ruling parties have rejected suggestions that gas shortages could be eased by allowing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to come into service, a move supported by the Kremlin.
At the end of 2021, the construction of Nord Stream 2, a second gas pipeline to transport gas between Germany and Russia, was completed, however, on February 22 of this year, Germany froze its certification one day after Russia recognized the independence of the self-proclaimed independent republics of Lugansk and Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine.
“I strongly suggest that we save ourselves the humiliation of always asking Putin for something that we are not going to get. Dependence on him has to end once and for all,” said Kevin Kuehnert, a German official.
Over the coming weeks, the EU and Russian rulers will continue to discuss possible alternatives for energy production in the region. With this new cut by Gazprom, the fear continues that the service will be cut entirely as a form of pressure from the Kremlin to lift the international sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine.
With Reuters and AP
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