Final pipe welded at construction site of second branch of Nord Stream 2

MOSCOW. Sept 6 (Interfax) - The last section of the gas pipeline was welded on Monday during construction of the second branch of Nord Stream 2, project operator Nord Stream 2 AG said.

"On September 6, specialists of the Fortuna pipe-laying barge welded the last pipe of the second branch of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, after which pipe number 200 858 is to be submerged along the bottom of the Baltic Sea in German waters," the project operator said.

"The next step will be implementing the joining of the section of the gas pipeline running from the coast of Germany with the section stretching from the waters of Denmark, using the above-water tie-in (AWTI) method," the project operator added.

"Pre-commissioning operations and procedures on the second branch will then be carried out in order to launch the gas pipeline into operation by the end of this year," the company said.

The Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipeline, with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year, runs from the Slavyanskaya compressor station in the Kingisepp District, Leningrad Region, to the Baltic coast of Germany. The overall length of the trunkline along the two branches totals 2,460 km.

Laying of the first section of the gas pipeline was completed in early June.

Gazprom is completing Nord Stream 2 using its own resources, as its Swiss contractor ceased pipe-laying operations owing to sanctions imposed by the United States.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller last week said that, "We could supply the first gas via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to the European market even prior to the end of this year, this heating season. All the necessary capacities have been created on the Russian side, such as production capacities at Yamal and gas transmission capacities in the northern gas transport corridor."

Gazprom's CEO noted that, "It is well known that the route from Yamal through the Baltic Sea to Europe is the shortest and the most cost-effective for consumers; and it is very, very importantly the most environmentally friendly. The carbon footprint is 5.6 times lower than that of the corridor that goes through Ukraine."