Nord Stream pipeline approved by Denmark

Denmark has given the go-ahead for the Nord Stream pipeline, approving its pathway across Danish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea. The Danish approval comes a month after Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen met with Vladimir Putin for talks about the project. ‘We have investigated the safety and the environmental aspects of the project very thoroughly’, Kirsten Lundt Erichson, an Engineer with the Danish agency.

The next steps for Nord Stream

The Nord Stream consortium must gain the approval of four other transit countries: Russia, Finland, Sweden and Germany. It is expected that Finland will be the next to approve the pipeline project, as it has already sanctioned the environmental part of the project.

Pipeline facts

The Nord Stream pipeline will carry 55 billion m3/y from Russian fields to Germany. Two parallel 1200 km lines will be constructed, the first due to start in 2010. Gazprom holds 51% of the project, while E.ON Ruhrgas, Wintershall and Nederlands Gasunie make up the rest of the consortium.

GDF Suez

In other news, GDF Suez has announced that it is discussing with Gazprom a 10 – 20% increase in its Russian gas supply, as part of an agreement that would see the French utility join the Nord Stream project. GDF Suez has been in talks for a year to buy a 9% stake in the pipeline, and has now declared it wants access to new gas volumes. A spokesperson said that GDF wants between 1 – 2 billion m3/yr on a long-term contract. Russia currently accounts for 14% of GDF Suez’s gas supplies, with other gas coming from Norway (23%) and The Netherlands (15%).

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/02112009/nord_stream_pipeline_approved_by_denmark/