Work on laying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in German waters may continue at the end of May, the Federal Office for Shipping and Hydrography of Germany (BSH) reported.

The press service of the regulator explained that then the building permit issued back in 2018 will begin to operate. 

So far, work has been suspended due to a claim by the German environmental organization NABU.

The activists demanded the revocation of BSH's permission to lay a pipe on a 16.5 km section in the exclusive economic zone of Germany, which was previously issued for the period before the beginning of summer.

At the time of consideration of the claim, this permission is suspended.

“From the end of May, it will be allowed to continue the construction of Nord Stream 2 in accordance with the current situation.

In March 2018, Nord Stream 2 received a permanent permit to lay the pipeline from the end of May to the end of September, ”RIA Novosti quoted the BSH press service as saying.

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  • © Jens Büttner

The pipeline operator declined to comment on the possible impact of the environmental lawsuit on the progress of the work.

"We do not comment on potential proceedings related to decisions of government bodies," the company quoted TASS as saying.

Climate radicalism

On the eve of the non-governmental environmental organization "Union for the Conservation of Nature and Biodiversity" (NABU) challenged in court the issuance of a permit for the construction of Nord Stream-2 by the regulator.

NABU recalled that they have opposed the construction of the gas pipeline since 2018 and called the lawsuit "the only way to limit damage to the Baltic Sea."

“With our previous protest, we have reached the point that during a particularly sensitive period of wintering in the reserve for birds it was impossible to carry out construction.

However, Nord Stream 2 is also directly destroying seabed habitat in more than 16 football pitches, with an overall impact more than ten times larger, ”said NABU Chairman Jörg-Andreas Kruger.

At the same time, in early April, the BSH regulator rejected the requirement of NABU and another environmental structure Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) to revoke the permission to lay the Trans-Baltic gas pipeline.

“After assessing the doubts expressed in the protests (of the applicants -

RT

), and a new comprehensive environmental and environmental review, the previously issued permit remains legal,” BSH said at the time.

In mid-April, environmentalists from DUH also filed a lawsuit with the Hamburg Administrative Court against BSH's earlier permission to work during the sensitive nesting season.

"DUH considers BSH's January 2021 permission for further construction to be illegal: there is no need for Nord Stream 2, the implications for climate goals (climate policy goals) are ignored, the impact on seabirds and porpoises is denied based on outdated data." , - said then the activists.

At the same time, DUH is confident that the construction of a new gas pipeline generally contradicts European installations in the environmental field.

For example, DUH CEO Sascha Müller-Kraenner said: "The pipeline is the largest fossil resource project in Europe - the contradiction to climate goals is obvious."

According to experts, the claims of environmental organizations to the Nord Stream 2 project are far-fetched.

"An environmental impact assessment of the project has already been carried out, so now talk about the" harm "of the project for the sea is absurd," Andrei Sidorov, head of the department of international organizations and world political processes at the Faculty of World Politics at Moscow State University, said in a commentary to RT.

No less strange are the statements that Germany allegedly does not need gas supplies, the expert added.

“Probably, these environmentalists think that electricity immediately appears in the outlet, but do not think how it gets there.

Yes, there is an opinion that new technologies in the field of renewable energy will make it possible to abandon fossil fuels in the future.

However, it is difficult to do this, and the final transition is hardly possible until the middle of this century, ”Sidorov said.

A similar point of view is shared by the director of the All-Russian Institute of Nature, Honored Ecologist of the Russian Federation, Andrei Peshkov.

“This lawsuit is a new attempt to stop construction, which has nothing to do with the environment.

Earlier, an assessment of the project's environmental impact was carried out, after which a positive expert opinion was received both at the national and international levels, which states that laying the gas pipeline does not harm the environment, ”the expert recalled in an interview with RT.

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The expert also questioned the position of German environmentalists on fossil fuels.

“Germany has abandoned nuclear power plants and is going to close coal-fired power plants and incinerators.

If it refuses from gas and uses only renewable sources of electricity, then the country will be able to provide only 30% of its needs, ”Peshkov explained.

Alexey Grivach, Deputy Director General for Gas Problems at the National Energy Security Fund, agrees with this assessment.

The expert recalled that the already operating Nord Stream gas pipeline does not harm the ecology of the Baltic Sea.

“As for the fight against gas in general, it can be called climatic radicalism.

The fight against gas is unproductive and only creates a bias towards more “dirtier” energy sources such as coal, "the expert explained in a comment to RT.

Struggle of interests

German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze also does not share the point of view of ecologists from NABU and DUH.

Earlier, the head of the environmental department said that if the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is stopped, Germany will face claims for damages in the International Arbitration Court.

In addition, the minister also disagrees with the arguments of eco-activists that the country should refuse to expand the supply of natural gas, since it is a fossil, and not a renewable source of energy.

Schulze recalled that Germany cannot "immediately withdraw from the coal, nuclear and gas power industry."

“In this and the next decades, we will need natural gas,” Die Welt newspaper quoted the minister as saying.

  • Minister of Ecology of the Federal Republic of Germany Svenja Schulze

  • © REUTERS / Annegret Hilse

Recall that Nord Stream 2 will supplement the already operating Nord Stream gas pipeline, and the total volume of natural gas supplied to Europe in this direction will be able to reach 110 billion cubic meters per year.

The gas pipeline is being laid from the Ust-Luga area in the Leningrad Region to the Greifswald area in Germany; pipe-laying in the Baltic Sea began in 2018.

As reported on the website of the operator of the Nord Stream 2 AG project, construction is carried out with constant monitoring of the state of the environment, which is based on the national programs of environmental monitoring of the countries through whose jurisdiction the pipe passes: Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany.

At the same time, the American authorities actively oppose the project.

In 2019, the United States imposed sanctions against Nord Stream 2, after which the Swiss company Allseas was forced to withdraw from the project.

Because of this, the laying of the pipe was temporarily suspended.

Then Gazprom made a decision to complete the construction of the gas pipeline on its own.

In turn, Berlin is dissatisfied with the actions of Washington.

The German authorities say they are interested in completing the gas pipeline and condemn the US unilateral extraterritorial sanctions.

According to experts, eco-activists who now demand to stop the construction of Nord Stream 2 are acting in the interests of Washington.

“This is lobbying for the interests of the United States, since American companies have long sought to expand LNG supplies to the European market,” noted Andrey Peshkov.

Alexey Grivach adheres to a similar point of view.

“The termination of the construction of Nord Stream 2 is beneficial to the United States and its allies, satellites within the EU.

In addition, some forces within Germany are interested in this.

Keep in mind that natural gas is a competitor for renewable energy producers.

All these forces are behind the initiatives directed against the gas pipeline, ”the expert explained.

A question for the near future

As of the end of March 2021, the work had already been completed by 95%, it remained to lay 121 km of the total length of the gas pipeline along two lines of 2,460 km.

At the same time, Andrei Sidorov expressed the opinion that the actions of German eco-activists are partly related to the upcoming elections in Germany in the fall.

“The lobbyists are trying to suspend the implementation of Nord Stream 2 until the elections.

If, according to the results of the voting, the Soyuz 90 / Greens wins, the commissioning of the gas pipeline may be disrupted, since these forces have long and sharply opposed the project, "the expert explained.

Alexey Grivach, in turn, has no doubts that the pipeline will be successfully completed.

“The project is developing despite tremendous pressure from the US and the green lobby in Germany. Construction even accelerated with the addition of a second pipe-lay vessel in April. There is very little left until the completion of the laying of the Nord Stream 2, ”the expert summed up.