On February 22, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced sanctions on Russia in Berlin , stopping the approval procedures for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Shultz clearly stated that the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs has taken administrative measures upon request, and Nord Stream 2 cannot obtain certification for the time being. Without this certification, Beixi No. 2 would not be put into operation. Although this 1,230 kilometers bidirectional pipeline from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea has been completed, but it has not yet been airtight.
Many people will see disputes about this project when they read the news about Germany and Russia. Let’s explain this project in detail below.
has Beixi No. 2, so there must be Beixi No. 1. In fact, Beixi No. 2 is the follow-up project of No. 1.
In 2005, under the leadership of then German Chancellor Schröder (Gerhard Schröder), Nord Stream 1 was planned and designed and started construction. It was completed in May 2011 and was ventilated in November of the same year.
and No. 2 is a new pipeline parallel to No. 1. It has been completed in September 2021. After ventilation according to the original design, it can transport 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas each year. However, due to political disputes, it has not yet been released. Behind the Nordic Stream No. 2, the Russian state-owned Gazprom is the only owner. The company bears half of the total cost of 9.5 billion euros, with the remaining half being invested by Austrian OMV, UK Royal Dutch Shell , French Engie and German companies Wintershall Dea and Uniper. The head of the Nord Stream II shareholders' committee is former German Chancellor Schroeder.
Schroeder had a good relationship with Russia when he was in power and always recommended strengthening cooperation with Russia. He existed as a pro-Russian faction in German politics, so the United States did not like him very much. Schroeder was a posthumous son. His father, as a member of the German Wehrmacht , was beaten to death by the Soviet army in Romanian in 1944. However, Schroeder, as a politician, did not hold grudges, but instead fought with the Russians .
Due to the environmental protection requirements within the EU and the target of atmospheric emissions, natural gas is considered a non-renewable clean energy. In Germany, both civil and industrial demand for natural gas is very large, but Germany's own natural gas production can only cover at most 5% of the domestic market. So before green new energy technology achieved a decisive breakthrough, Germany could only rely on Russian natural gas for a long time.
Light blue part represents pipeline natural gas, and dark blue represents liquefied gas
According to statistics from BP , in 2019, Germany imported 55.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas, of which more than half (51%) were imported from Russia, followed by Norwegian (27%) and Netherlands (21%).
. Within the EU, a total of 188 billion cubic meters of pipeline natural gas were imported from Russia in 2019, of which Germany accounted for about one-third of them.
Currently, the filling level of German gas storage facilities is about 35%, which is much lower than the filling level a year ago. If Russia stops supplying natural gas, according to calculations from think tank Bruegel, Europe's gas storage will bottom out by the end of March 2022.
and there is no other alternative source within the entire EU. Norway's natural gas production has reached its limit. After the earthquake occurred in the Netherlands, it tends to stop producing natural gas under environmental protection and safety pressures.
Although the United States has high-yield LNG for export and is willing to export to Germany, Germany itself does not have its own LNG reserve station. A recent liquefied gas reserve station will be built in Brunsbüttel, Shih Ho-ju, but the project is not yet on the agenda.
In addition to economic reasons, the construction of Nord Stream 2 involves more political reasons within the EU.
Polish and Baltic countries are worried that Nord Stream II will make the EU more dependent on Russia. And as a transit country by land pipeline. A natural gas transit fee will be lost. In particular, Ukraine has an annual transit fee income of about 2 billion euros, which is one of the important sources of its national finances.
Polish Prime Minister Molawitski warned in November last year that Russia would use the pipeline to blackmail Ukraine and Moldova and manipulate energy prices.
actually plays a decisive role. As a sanction for annexation of Crimea , the United States imposed sanctions on companies participating in Nord Stream 2 for nearly a year. It was not until early 2021 that the Russian pipe laying ship "Fortuna2" began to resume work.
It was not until July last year that Germany and the United States reached a series of agreements to resolve the Nord Stream II conflict. In exchange, Germany sent the Bavarian warship to East Asia to support the United States in free navigation of the South China Sea.
Nord Stream No. 2 is a political benefit that is far greater than economic benefit. Although the Russian economy relies heavily on energy exports, oil exports are much more important to Russia than natural gas exports. The price of natural gas sold to Europe by Russia is not high, much cheaper than the price sold to Asia. Selling natural gas is more about maintaining its economic impact on Western Europe. But without Nord Stream II, natural gas would have to be transported by land mainly through Ukraine, Poland and other countries. These countries have not had a good relationship with Moscow. Therefore, from Russia's perspective, the political factors of the second Nord Stream pipeline are greater than the economy, which means that Russia can get rid of the restraints of these anti-Russian countries and directly link them to Germany.
Nord Stream 2 has a very powerful opposition force in Germany, which is environmental protection organizations. According to their calculations (as can be adjusted at will, like financial statements), the pipeline emits more than 100 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, which runs contrary to the EU's carbon emission requirements. Of course, the same is true for liquefied gas. When liquefied gas is produced by fracturing, the emission per kilowatt-hour is as high as coal.
