After a 10-day pause for maintenance, natural gas resumed flowing on Thursday through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Europe, allaying concerns that Russia would continue to keep the taps off. A continued shutdown could have triggered an energy crisis and a recession for several European states.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline has been shut down since July 11 for yearly maintenance. German authorities worried that the pipeline, the nation’s primary supply of Russian gas, would not reopen amid rising tensions over Russia’s war in Ukraine. The pipeline supplied around 35% of all the Russian gas imported by Europe last year.
Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom highlighted purported technical issues with a turbine that European partner Siemens Energy had shipped to Canada for maintenance but was unable to receive back due to sanctions imposed on Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine.
Putin stated on Tuesday that Gazprom still had not received the necessary paperwork for the turbine’s return. On Wednesday, Gazprom reiterated the allegation. Putin warned that the gas flow would decrease if the turbine shipped to Canada were not returned by late July, when Gazprom was scheduled to shut down another turbine for maintenance.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, declared on Wednesday that there was “no pretext not to deliver” gas since the turbine was “in transit.”
As a precaution, the European Union instructed its members to restrict their gas use by 15% until March. Germany and the rest of Europe are frantically working to lessen their reliance on Russian energy imports and fill gas storage tanks in time for the winter.
The German government triggered the second stage of its three-stage emergency natural gas supply plan last month, stating that the continent’s largest economy was in “crisis” and that winter storage goals were in jeopardy.
The German government has authorized utility providers to restart 10 idle coal-fired power facilities and six idle oil-fired power plants to compensate for the country’s energy deficiencies, and 11 more coal-fired power stations that were supposed to shut down in November will be permitted to continue functioning.
