Berlin (AFP) - Europe’s energy crisis loomed large on Friday after Russian energy giant Gazprom said it could not resume natural gas supplies via a major pipeline to Germany for now. The company cited what it said needed urgent maintenance work to fix major components - in an announcement made just hours before deliveries were due to resume.
Russia’s state-run energy company shut down Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Wednesday for what it said would be three days of maintenance.
In a social media post on Friday evening, she said she had identified “malfunctions” in the turbines and added that the pipeline would not operate unless they were eliminated.
The move was the latest development in an saga in which Gazprom developed technical problems as a reason to reduce gas flow through Nord Stream 1 - explanations German officials dismissed as a cover for a play on political power in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
European utilities scrambled to find additional supplies during the summer months to prepare for winter heating requirements, buying expensive LNG that comes by ship, while additional supplies come via pipeline from Norway and Azerbaijan.
Analysts say fears of winter shortages have subsided somewhat as storage progresses, but a complete cut could expose Europe to serious difficulties. Energy policy expert Simone Tagliafitra at Bruegel Research Center in Brussels said the EU needs to step up efforts to reduce gas consumption.
Constant outages from Gazprom mean that “winter without Russian gas is the central scenario for Europe.” He said. “There is only one way to prepare for this: reduce the demand for gas and electricity.”
Gazprom said it has identified oil leaks from four turbines at the Portovaya compressor station at the Russian end of the pipeline, including the only operational turbines. It claimed to have received warnings from Russia’s industrial safety watchdog that the leaks “do not allow the safe and trouble-free operation of the gas turbine engine”.
“In connection with this, it is necessary to take appropriate measures and suspend further operation of the … gas compressor unit in relation to the overall (safety) violations identified,” the company said.
Gazprom started cutting supplies Via Nord Stream 1 in mid-June, he blames delays in the delivery of turbines that were sent to Canada for repair. Canada has since allowed the turbines to be delivered to Germany, which has said nothing stands in the way From sending her to Russia other than Russia saying she wanted the part.
In recent weeks, Nord Stream 1 has been running at only 20% of its capacity.
German company Siemens Energy, which makes the turbines, said after Gazprom announced that “this discovery is not a technical reason for the decommissioning”.
“Such leaks usually do not affect the operation of the turbines and can be shut down at the site,” it said in a statement. It added that this was a “routine procedure during maintenance work” and that this type of leak had not resulted in operations being shut down in the past.
Siemens Energy said it was not currently contracted for maintenance work, but was on the alert. “Regardless of this, we have already indicated several times that there are enough additional turbines available at the Portovaia compressor station to power Nord Stream 1,” she added.
Russia, which before the cuts began accounting for just over a third of Germany’s gas supply, has also reduced gas flows to other European countries that sided with Ukraine in the war.
Natural gas is used to power industry, heat homes and offices, and generate electricity. Increasing the amount in the reserve has been a major focus of the German government since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to avoid rationing for the industry as winter demand rises.
Storage facilities in Germany are now over 84% full.
The head of Germany’s grid regulator, Klaus Müller, tweeted that Russia’s decision to keep Nord Stream 1 closed for now increases the importance of the new LNG terminals that Germany plans to start operating this winter, gas storage and “needs big conserving” gas.
“It is good that Germany is now better prepared, but now it is up to everyone,” Muller added.
Germany’s Economy Ministry said it had “taken note” of Gazprom’s latest announcement and would not comment on it directly, but added that “we have already seen Russia’s unreliability in recent weeks” and efforts continue to reduce the country’s dependence on Russian energy imports.
“These are, of course, difficult times, but we will continue to constantly strengthen the provisions,” the ministry said in a statement. “Great efforts are still needed but we are on a good path to dealing with the situation.”
The European Union has just reached its goal of filling its gas stockpile to 80%, ahead of the November 1 deadline, despite Russian supply cuts.
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Kozlowska contributed from London. David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany also contributed to this story.
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