Nord Stream 2 The Next Milestone
Nord Stream 2 secures Europe’s energy supply. It will also help achieve the European Union’s climate goals.
Nord Stream 2, the new pipeline through the Baltic Sea, is being built by Gazprom to meet the need for additional gas imports into the European Union and to improve Europe’s security of supply. The project also supports the achievement of climate policy objectives in the European Union.
Wintershall Dea is one of five European energy companies that have committed themselves to providing long-term financing for 50 per cent of the total project costs, which are currently expected to be 9.5 billion euros. The European companies will each provide up to 950 million euros. Gazprom is the sole shareholder of the Nord Stream 2 AG project company. Wintershall Dea is convinced that Nord Stream 2, with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic metres of gas, is the safest, most efficient and most environmentally friendly route for Russian gas supplies because it provides a direct link to European consumers.
Nord Stream 2 is scheduled to go into operation by the end of 2019. More than 1500 kilometres of pipes have already been laid by Summer 2019. All the countries affected by the construction have granted permits for construction, except for Denmark. The country proposes a new route variant in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the waters south of the island of Bornholm.
Power generation with natural gas instead of coal produces up to 50 per cent less CO2. In fact, natural gas supplied by Nord Stream 2 could save around 14 per cent of the EU’s total CO2 emissions from electricity generation.
Research vessels belonging to contractors from eight countries were used for investigating the 1,230-km-long route, ranging from canoes to ultra-modern survey vessels. A total distance covering 59,000 kilometres was investigated. More than 2,300 samples were collected in order to study the geology of the seabed in detail.
