Nord Stream 2 fills first gas string

Gazprom has filled one of the two strings that make up its 55bn m³/yr Nord Stream 2 pipeline with operational gas.

The string holds around 177mn m³ of technical gas at 103 bar of pressure, while pre-commissioning continues on the second string, Nord Stream 2, the Gazprom subsidiary developing the line says. This pressure is high enough for gas to flow to Germany once the line starts up. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, connecting Russia and northern Germany across the Baltic Sea, is fully completed, and filling of the first string began in early October.

Nord Stream 2 has now submitted all necessary documents to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's Stralsund mining authority, which is responsible for carrying out the pipeline's German permitting procedure. The authority says that from its point of view, nothing stands in the way Nord Stream 2's start-up. Denmark's energy agency has approved the start-up of the filled line.

But Nord Stream 2 has yet to obtain certification as operator of the line. Regulator Bnetza's final decision on certification could take until July next year], although a draft decision is due by early January.

Further approvals are not needed for the line to enter operation, Bnetza says. But if the pipeline is operated by a party that is not properly certified, it would be subject to potential fines, the regulator adds.

By Jeff Kuntz