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| natural gas pipelines in europe | |
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| energy in germany | |
| gazprom | |
| e.on | |
| connections across the baltic sea | |
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Nord Stream (former names: North Transgas and North European Gas Pipeline) is a planned Natural Gas Pipeline from Russia to Germany . The name of Nord Stream refers usually to the offshore section of this pipeline between Vyborg and Greifswald , but sometimes it may have wider meaning, which includes onshore section in Russia and further connections in the Western-Europe. HISTORY The project started in 1997 when Gazprom and the Finnish company Neste (later Fortum ) formed a joint company, North Transgas Oy, for construction and operation of a gas pipeline from Russia to Northern Germany across the Baltic Sea. The German partner in this project was Ruhrgas (later E.ON ). In April 2001 , Gazprom , Fortum, Ruhrgas and Wintershall adopted a statement regarding a joint feasibility study for the pipeline. On 18 November 2002 , the Management Committee of Gazprom approved a schedule of project implementation. In May 2005 , Fortum withdrew from the project and sold its 50% stake in North Transgas to Gazprom. As a result, Gazprom became the 100% owner of North Transgas Oy. On 8 September 2005 , Gazprom, BASF and E.ON signed a basic agreement on the construction of a North European Gas Pipeline. On 30 November 2005 , the North European Gas Pipeline Company (later Nord Stream) was incorporated in Zug , Switzerland . On 9 December 2005 , Gazprom started construction of the Russian onshore section of the pipeline. On 30 March 2006 , the shareholders’ committee of the North European Gas Pipeline Company hold its first meeting. On 4 October 2006, the pipeline and the operating company were officially renamed Nord Stream.1 TECHNICAL FEATURES Russian onshore section Construction of the Russian onshore section began on 9 December 2005 in the town of Babayevo ( Vologda Oblast ), and is slated for completion in 2010 . The onshore section in Russia will run from Gryazovets to the coastal compressor station at Vyborg . The length of this section will be , the diameter of the pipe is and working pressure will be 100 atm, which will be secured by six compressor stations. The Russian onshore section will also supply gas to the Northwestern Region of Russia ( St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast ), including to the planned Baltic LNG Plant at Primorsk . It will be constructed and operated by Gazprom .2 According to the Finnish natural gas company Gasum , a branch pipeline in Karelia will connect the onshore section of the pipeline to Finland.3 Baltic Sea offshore section The offshore section of pipeline will run from Vyborg compressor station at Portovaya Bay along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to Greifswald in Germany, with a total length of . will run in Russian Territorial Waters , in the Russian Economic Zone , in the Finnish economic zone, in the Swedish economic zone, in the Danish economic zone, and of the zone disputed between Poland and Denmark (see note below), in the German economic zone and in German territorial waters. However, on 4 April 2007 was announced, that due environmental concerns further optimisation of the route will be explored in the Gulf Of Finland in the economic zone of Estonia, further south of Gotland in the Swedish economic zone, and near Bornholm , Denmark.4 On 21 August 2007 Nord Stream decided to re-route the pipeline to run north of Bornholm, which will avoid the disputed territory between Denmark and Poland.56 The plan is to build two parallel gas pipeline legs each with capacity of 27.5 bcm per year. According to plan, the first leg will be built in 2008-2010 and the second one in 2010-2012. The diameter of the pipe will be , the wall thickness and the working pressure 220 bar.7 There will be a service platform in the Swedish economic zone, 90 km to north-east of Gotland island. The size of the platform will be 30 by 30 meters and it will rise approximately 35 meters above sea. The platform is to be used for maintenance and service of the pipelines, including launch and reception of testing and diagnostic equipment, control of gas parameters, and placement of isolation equipment (valves).8 |
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