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Oct 8, 2009
Nord Stream on the home straight
The European energy infrastructure project Nord Stream is on course for completion: "We’re coming onto the home stretch,” Matthias Warnig, Managing Director of Nord Stream.
Buenos Aires. The European energy infrastructure project Nord Stream is on course for completion: "We’re coming onto the home stretch,” Matthias Warnig, Managing Director of Nord Stream declared on Thursday at the World Gas Conference in Buenos Aires. “We are confident that we will obtain all the necessary permits by the end of the year,” the Nord-Stream-Manager said at the world’s largest gas industry get-together in the Argentinean capital. Warnig expects that, “construction will begin at the beginning of April 2010 as planned.” This means this major trans-national infrastructure project can be realized within the time frame envisaged. "So far we have always stayed on schedule and have completed the different stages within the allotted time.”
The pipeline is due to become operational in the autumn of 2011. The construction project has also stayed within the budget: "We agreed fixed prices for large orders because we deliberately wanted to avoid taking any risks with costs,” Mr Warning (picture) said, adding, “We are within the budget.”
The Nord Stream pipeline will provide a direct link between Russia and the European Union through the Baltic Sea, supplying both companies and households with natural gas. The pipeline will therefore make a key contribution to securing Europe’s future energy supply. Up to 55 billion cubic meters of gas a year can be transported through the Nord Stream pipeline, which would mean, by way of calculation, that more than 25 million households can be supplied with energy.
At the Nord-Stream booth in Buenos Aires this week visitors can inform themselves about the project, particularly about all the resources and time that Nord Stream has invested during the planning in order to optimize the proposed route and minimize the impact on the environment. Another focus of the Nord Stream booth is the extensive knowledge the company has gained during the permitting process.
Since 2006, Nord Stream has been in intensive dialogue with the authorities of the five countries through whose waters the pipeline will pass. The company has contributed to an international consultation process involving the nine countries of the Baltic Sea, which was characterized by intensive involvement of the public.
The company has developed a detailed technical plan for the 1,223 kilometer pipeline through the Baltic Sea. The pipeline will operate at a pressure of up to 220 bar, and transport 55 billion cubic meters per annum, without the use of compressor stations along the route. Additionally, Nord Stream will present its logistics concept, which is an economically and environmentally-based strategy for minimizing transport distances for 200,000 concrete-coated pipes with an overall weight of 4.8 million tons.
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