About 1,000 sections of the gas pipeline of companies that own Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 are stored in a warehouse in Germany, Germany's ostsee Zeitung revealed.
This number of pipelines could be enough to repair damaged branches of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipeline systems.
The pipeline sections are kept in a warehouse in an industrial park in the Lubmin community. This is the output point of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in Germany.
"These pipelines have high costs. That number of pipes is enough to replace the damaged sections," a source told ostsee Zeitung.
Nord Stream lawyer Hans-Peter Huber confirmed that the pipelines in the German warehouse belonged to the Nord Stream pipeline operator.
However, the article in the German newspaper noted, the situation became more complicated because a lawsuit was held in Switzerland regarding the debt of Nord Stream 2 Ag, the company that owns Nord Stream 2, with small creditors. The court extended until 9.5 so that the company reached an agreement with creditors; If not, the Nord Stream 2 operator may be declared bankrupt.
In that case, about 500 pipelines in Nord Stream 2 could be auctioned. Nord Stream's pipelines will not be affected during the process.
Another source noted that repairing Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 would be technically relatively easy if needed supplies were available.
The news agency estimates the total cost of the 1,000 Nord Stream pipelines at around 25 million euros.
The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 systems both include two branches of concrete-backed steel pipes about 1,200 km long, more than 1 m in diameter, located at a depth of about 80-110 m.
The Nord Stream pipeline has an annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters, and was completed at the end of 2012. The pipeline passes through the exclusive economic zone of five countries: Russia, Germany, Denmark, Finland and Sweden.
Nord Stream 2 is built by Nord Stream 2 AG. The construction of Nord Stream 2 in Germany began in 2016, which included the production of steel pipes. The digging of ditches under the seabed to lay pipelines began in May 2018. In July 2018, the first steel pipes were installed on Germany's Lubmin coast. Nord Stream 2 will be completed in 2021.
The total capacity of the pipeline system including Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 is expected to reach 110 billion m3 after Nord Stream 2 comes into operation. However, this pipeline has never been certified for operation.
In September 2022, the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were sabotaged. Currently, only one branch of Nord Stream 2 is intact.
