Nord Stream is a double pipeline that started in November 2011, transporting natural gas from Russia to Europe via the Baltic Sea, with a total of 55 billion cubic meters annually and over a period of 50 years, according to the agreements concluded.


Origin and development

In 1997, feasibility research for crossing the Baltic Sea began, and since then, more than 2,500 square kilometers have been surveyed along the route.

The initial survey covered a wide passage on the sea floor so that a specific pipeline route could be designed, after which more detailed and specific surveys were conducted over a narrower latitude.

After the initial survey, more detailed surveys were conducted, covering narrow sections of the potential pipeline route from 2005 through 2008.

More than €100 million has been invested in optimum route surveying and planning, as well as studying the potential environmental impacts of the construction.

As the developer and operator of the Nord Stream dual pipeline system, Nord Stream AG has been involved since 2005 in conducting several seabed and environmental surveys in preparation for the start of the project.

Nord Stream AG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Russia's state-owned Gazprom, is the world's largest exporter of natural gas.

Nord Stream 1

In April 2010, the company began construction of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, nearly two-thirds of the pipes needed to build it were already stored in 5 strategically selected ports around the Baltic Sea, and construction was completed in June 2011.

On November 8, 2011, Line 1 was officially inaugurated at a ceremony in Lubmin, and the ceremony was attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, French Prime Minister François Fillon and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, while gas transmission through Line 1 began after that. a week.

Germany suspended certification of Nord Stream 2 pipeline in response to Russia's war in Ukraine (Getty)

Nord Stream 2

The construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which runs parallel to Line 1, began in May 2011, was completed in April 2012, and gas transmission began in October 2012.

On February 22, 2022, Germany suspended the certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, in response to Russia's recognition of the "Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics" prior to the Russian war on Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Russia cut the flow of natural gas by more than half in June 2022, after the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

On July 11, 2022, Russia halted gas flows for annual maintenance for 10 days and then resumed flow on July 21, 2022.

pipeline path

The Nord Stream Double (1 and 2) pipeline runs across the Baltic Sea from Vyborg, Leningrad Oblast, northwest Russia, to Lubmin, near Greifswald, in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state, Germany.

The Nord Stream route passes through the exclusive economic zones of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, as well as the territorial waters of Russia, Denmark and Germany.

In addition to these five countries, the pipelines are also related to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, so these four countries were also part of the consultation process as they border the Baltic Sea.


gas source

Russia's Bovanenkovo ​​oil and gas condensate field is the main natural gas base for the Nord Stream pipeline.

The field is located in Western Siberia (Russia), on the Yamal Peninsula, 40 kilometers from the coast of the Kara Sea, and covers an area of ​​about one thousand square kilometers.

The field's gas reserves are estimated at 4.9 trillion cubic metres, making Povanenkovo ​​a safe source of natural gas for Europe.

Nord Stream Specifications

Nord Stream is 1,224 km across the Baltic Sea, bypassing the 1,166 km Langled Pipeline between Norway and the United Kingdom under water in the North Sea.

Nord Stream's duplex line is built on 3 sections of different wall thicknesses that follow the direction of gas flow, with the walls being thicker at the beginning of the pipelines in Portovaya Bay, Russia, and thicker at the landing point in Greifswald, Germany.

Each pipeline consists of about 100,000 tubes (the double line is made up of 200,000 tubes), their construction has been scheduled in phases to minimize environmental impacts, and so as not to interfere with critical seasons for seal and fish breeding.

After the construction work was completed, the three sections of the pipelines were immersed in water and pressure tested to ensure mechanical integrity, then the pipeline sections were then welded underwater.

The pipeline was then emptied of water and filled with nitrogen before natural gas could be safely introduced, and these three pipeline sections were then connected at two locations where the design pressure changed.

Each pipeline is equipped to transport about 27.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, with a total of 55 billion cubic meters (1.9 trillion cubic feet) for the two pipelines annually transporting gas to companies and households in the European Union for at least 50 years as per the contract.

Although the nominal capacity of the pipeline is 55 billion cubic meters per year, it transported 59.2 billion cubic meters in 2021.


how to operate

A contractual framework has been established to ensure the transportation of gas from the entry point of Nord Stream pipelines in Vyborg, Russia, to the exit point in Lubmen, Germany.

Nord Stream AG has no right to own, buy or sell the gas transported through the twin pipelines, as natural gas is traded only between the shipper and its trading partners in Europe.

In Germany the gas is received by the OPAL (Baltic Sea Pipeline Connection) and NEL (Northern European Gas Pipeline) for further transmission to the European network.

Nord Stream also operates 4 pipeline facilities: facilities in Russia and Germany where the offshore pipeline is connected to onshore pipelines, a control center, as well as a fully independent backup control center.

From the Gazprom dispatch center in Saint Petersburg, Nord Stream receives a weekly nomination divided into days, and then a daily nomination divided into hours.

The nominations for the extracted gas are based on the demand of Gazprom's partners and customers across Europe, including public utilities, regional gas suppliers, industrial companies and power plants.

Gas from the Nord Stream dual pipeline system is transported through the European network to Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and other countries.