Turbine for Nord Stream to be delivered from Canada on time - EC head
BRUSSELS. July 20 (Interfax) - The repaired turbine for Nord Stream has now been shipped from Canada, with delivery to be carried out as scheduled, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
The turbine is now being transported from Canada, so there are no more reasons to limit gas supplies [via Nord Stream], she said at a press conference in Brussels.
The turbine will arrive on time, she said, without disclosing specific dates.
At the same time, in this case it was possible to consider alternative turbine options that would have been suitable, von der Leyen said. This turbine is not the only one of its kind in the world, the EC head said.
Gazprom to date it has not received any official documents from Siemens allowing for supplying the gas turbine engine for the Portovaya compressor station amid the Canadian and European Union sanctions restrictions, the Russian company said in a statement earlier.
Gazprom emphasizes that it has previously sent similar requests to the German concern.
"In these circumstances, Gazprom again requests that Siemens provide the documents. Gazprom has again drawn attention to the fact that the guaranteed return of the turbine engine, which was previously sent for repair under sanctions restrictions, as well as the subsequent overhaul of other turbine engines for the Portovaya CS, directly affect the safe operation of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, Gazprom notes.
Nord Stream is now operating at 40% capacity, as one of the pipeline's turbines has not returned from an overhaul at a Montreal plant owing to Canadian sanctions. At the Portovaya compressor station, the time between overhauls before major maintenance and repairs of other engines has ended.
There are only two engines operating at the station. As Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, another gas compressor unit will have to be shut down at the end of July due to the overhaul interval. This means that only one gas pumping unit will remain in operation and the flow through the pipeline will drop to 33 million cubic meters per day if the turbine delayed in Canada does not come on line.
Earlier reports said the Canadian government allowed the turbines for the Portovaya compressor station to be shipped from its territory and that the plant in Canada would continue to repair turbines from Portovaya in the future.
The Nord Stream gas pipeline was launched in 2011. In 2021 the pipeline transported 59.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas. The project participants are Gazprom, Wintershall Dea, Gasunie, E.ON and Engie.