Nord Stream 1 – Russia's largest gas pipeline to Europe – has once again become the focus of European public opinion. According to the plan, the pipeline will resume gas transmission in the early morning of September 3 after three days of maintenance. However, the Russian side said that a number of faults were found during the maintenance process, and the gas transmission was completely stopped before troubleshooting, and no timetable was given for resuming the gas transmission.
After an unusually hot summer in Europe, the weather began to cooler. European households are beginning to worry that they will not be able to afford their energy bills this winter. Some UK households may have to pay for energy in the winter months with more than half of their monthly income. Energy companies and energy-intensive companies have cut production or even closed down due to energy shortages, further exacerbating fears of a recession in Europe.
On July 28, local time, a gas company in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, was operating with staff. Figure/IC photo
Completely stop gas delivery until troubleshooting
From 4 o'clock on August 31 to 4 o'clock on September 3, due to routine maintenance, the "Nord Stream 1" gas pipeline was suspended for three days, and the maintenance was completed jointly by Gazprom (GAZ) and Siemens AG of Germany. Gazprom recently said that after the maintenance is completed, in the absence of technical failures in the equipment, the gas transmission capacity of Nord Stream 1 will return to the level of 33 million cubic meters per day (about 20% of the maximum gas transmission capacity).
As the maintenance period drew to a close, European buyers on the other side of the pipeline were waiting not to resume gas transmissions, but to hear a "indefinite closure."
According to Xinhua News Agency, Gazprom (Gazprom) said on September 2 that due to the discovery of multiple equipment failures, the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline will completely stop gas transmission until troubleshooting.
Gazprom posted on its social media account on the same day that during the overhaul of the turbines at the Portovaya compressor station with representatives of Siemens, oil leakage was found in many places. The representative of Siemens signed the test report.
Gazprom said the Russian Federal Agency for Ecological, Technical and Atomic Energy Supervision warned that detected equipment failures and damage prevented turbines from operating safely and trouble-freely, so it was necessary to take appropriate measures and suspend the operation of turbines. In addition, a similar oil spill was also found in 3 turbines that had previously been overhauled, and these turbines are currently in a state of forced shutdown. Siemens said that only professional maintenance companies can completely eliminate the oil spill.
In response, European officials said that the equipment failure was just an excuse, and Russia used natural gas as a "weapon of war". The Russian side has repeatedly denied this claim. Russian Presidential Spokesman Peskov recently stressed that the technical problems caused by Western sanctions are the only reason for hindering Russia's gas supply.
Peskov said Western sanctions have hampered nord stream 1's routine repairs, maintenance efforts and the supply of critical components. "We assure you that there are no other factors hindering the supply of natural gas other than the technical problems caused by the sanctions."
In June, Gazprom announced that the volume of gas in the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline had been reduced to 40 percent due to Siemens' failure to return the turbines sent by GAZ for repairs in a timely manner. In July, "Nord Stream No. 1" entered the annual routine maintenance period and suspended gas supply for 10 days. But after the gas supply was restored, Gazprom said that due to equipment failure, Nord Stream 1 could only maintain operations with 20% of the delivery capacity.
On August 30, local time, a man stood in front of a natural gas pipeline facility in Lubmin, Germany. Figure/IC photo
Nord Stream 1 is the largest Russian gas pipeline to Europe, through which Russian gas reaches Germany and is transported to the rest of Europe. In 2021, the natural gas transmission volume of Nord Stream 1 reached 59.2 billion cubic meters, accounting for nearly 40% of the total EU natural gas imports from Russia.
In addition to Nord Stream 1, Russia's natural gas pipeline to Europe also includes "Yamal-Europe", "Brotherhood", "Alliance" and so on. According to Reuters, the volume of these large gas pipelines has also declined, and one of the large gas pipelines passing through Ukraine has stopped supplying gas in May.
"If Nord Stream 1 is cut off, or if Germany loses all sources of energy imports from Russia, the impact will be felt throughout northwestern Europe." Dutch Energy Minister Rob Jetten said in an interview with Reuters in July. Although the Netherlands has the Groningen gas field, the largest natural gas field in Western Europe, the large-scale exploitation of this gas field risks triggering earthquakes. Local people in Groningen protested between August and September to demand that the government close the gas fields.
In recent months, the EU has signed new gas supply contracts with the United States, Azerbaijan, Israel, Egypt and other countries, but these contracts are difficult to translate into effective supply in the short term. And due to transportation distances, infrastructure and other reasons, the price of natural gas in these new contracts is mostly higher than that of Russian natural gas. The BBC said Europe was trying to get rid of its dependence on Russian energy, but it might not be fast enough.
Heightened fears of a recession in Europe
For Europe, the indefinite closure of Nord Stream 1 is undoubtedly bad news that has made its energy crisis worse. The news from Gazprom comes at a time when European households are on the rise over fears that they won't be able to afford heating this winter, the BBC said.
European energy prices have soared several times this year, and the shortage of natural gas supply could further push up European energy prices. Taking the United Kingdom as an example, the country's think tank "Resolution Foundation" analysis said that in the upcoming winter of 2022-2023, the average household will have to pay an average of about 500 pounds a month on energy bills, while households with upfront fees may be higher, and the bills in January alone may exceed 700 pounds, accounting for more than half of their monthly disposable income.
Ruth Langdon, a member of the British social organization Action to End Fuel Poverty, noted that unless the UK government takes further action, "thousands of people will die in cold, wet houses" this winter.
On August 25, local time, in London, England, a resident was checking her smart meter. Photo/Visual China
In addition, the base-charged electricity price in France will reach 1200 euros / MWh in the coming year, which will soar about 12 times from the same period last year. Dutch TTF natural gas futures, which is regarded as the "weather vane of European gas prices," broke through $3,100 per 1,000 cubic meters in mid-August, up 610% from the same period last year.
Germany's grid regulator said the country was ready to deal with a halt to Russian gas supply, urging both home and business users to cut energy consumption. Germany's Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection issued a statement on September 2 saying that the reserve level of German gas storage facilities has reached 84.3%, and the country's target of 85% storage in October is expected to be achieved in early September.
In addition, according to the European Gas Infrastructure Organization (GIE), as of August 30, the current filling level of gas storage facilities in the EU has reached 80%, reaching its minimum winter storage target.
But Europe's natural gas reserves are far from enough to dispel concerns about winter heating. Jacob Mandel, senior commodity assistant at Aurora, a British energy consultancy, said: "It is currently difficult to obtain sufficient supplies (of natural gas) and it is becoming increasingly difficult to replace every cubic meter of Russian gas, according to the Guardian. ”
"This summer, European gas reserves reached the set target, and the supply of LNG to replace Russian gas (in the summer) is still sufficient, but as the weather turns colder and the demand for natural gas across Europe and Asia grows, there will not be so much LNG on the market for European imports." Mandel said.
The shortage of natural gas supplies has also raised fears of a recession in Europe. According to Reuters, the reduction in Russian gas supply may prompt many European countries to launch contingency plans, including energy rationing policies, which has exacerbated fears of a recession.
Some energy-intensive European companies, such as fertilizer and aluminium, have reduced production due to high electricity prices, while household consumers are saving electricity in the face of rising energy bills. Some energy companies have also gone out of business because of too high a cost, with 31 UK energy companies closing since early 2021.
Germany's Largest natural gas buyer, Uniper, said it had to buy gas from the energy market at high prices as Russian gas supplies were already down 80 percent from the contract level, paying an extra 100 million euros a day.
Beijing News reporter Chen Yikai
Edited by Chen Jing, proofread by Wu Xingfa