On 8 November, 2011 the first line of the Nord Stream gas pipeline became operational. After four years planning and 18 months of intensive constructions Russian gas began to flow into gas-transportation system of Europe. The Nord Stream pipeline directly links Russia and Germany and plays an important role in ensuring reliable supplies of Russian natural gas to meet the additional demand in Europe. This route will make it possible to bypass the not always predictable transit countries. This project involves the construction of two lines (with a capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters/year each) under the Baltic Sea from Portovaya Bay near the city of Vyborg to the German coast near Greifswald, stretching some 1200 km. On 25 August 2011 the last joint that connects the first line of Nord Stream gas pipeline to the European OPAL gas pipeline has been welded in Lubmin (German land of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). Welding of the "golden seam" − the last one − of the first line of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Russian sector has taken place on 22 August 2011. In August 2011, the pipe-laying operation of the second line of Nord Stream in the Gulf of Finland has completed. The second line will be commissioned in late 2012 and will double the pipeline capacity. In April 2010, construction of the first line of the Nord Stream project in the Baltic Sea began. In spring 2010, the Nord Stream consortium attracted external funding from a syndicate of 26 banks amounting to 3.9 billion euros for the first phase of the project. Of this amount, guarantees of export credit agencies SACE and Hermes were received for the sum of 3.1 billion euros. The Nord Stream AG (Switzerland) gas transmission company was established for planning, construction, ownership, financing and the operation of the gas pipeline. In September 2006 the final Shareholder’s Agreement was signed, as well as the Agreement on the basic conditions of gas transportation. Press-Releases: Environmental monitoring report on the Nord Stream project published - 11.10.11
|
