The German regulator Bundesnetzagentur (Federal network Agency, bnetza) responsible for the development of the gas transportation network in Germany until 2026, has decided not to include in the plan the development of five projects to expand the “Nord stream – 2” in connection with their unreliability.
It was assumed that network operators will construct branches of the pipeline in the amount of 4.5 billion euros, but the implementation of five projects were rejected in view of uncertainty in the construction of the second phase of the Russian gas pipeline.
“The five projects associated with the expansion of the NordStream project, in our estimation, is still too unreliable. They should be taken in the network development plan only when they permit the expansion of the NordStream 2”, — said the FSA.
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At the same time, the FSA expects additional volumes of Russian gas. As the main priorities, the Agency calls the transformation of the market of low-calorie gas associated with the termination of the development the largest of the Dutch Groningen field, in a space for high-calorie gas, the admission of the gas through the “Nord stream”, and the connection of new power plants.
“We safeguard the German gas consumers from unnecessary costs. High-cost measures expansion in the German gas network should be implemented, unless they do not do” — said the head of the FSA Jochen Hohmann.
Recall the “Nord stream — 2” roughly follows the route of the existing gas pipeline “Nord stream”: it must also pass through the territory of several Baltic States, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. With this in mind, the project needs to get approval for the pipeline construction from the authorities of all these States. The construction of the first two branches of these decisions had to wait about three years. The European Commission also requires that the pipeline conform to the norms of the Third energy package.
