Nord Stream will be stopped until the equipment is completely repaired

Gazprom reported on the results of the maintenance of the last operating gas compressor unit (GCU) No. 24 at the Portovaya CS of Nord Stream. The company said that an oil leak was detected on the Trent 60 gas pumping unit. Rostekhnadzor warned the company that the detected malfunctions did not allow for the safe operation of the gas turbine engine. Therefore, until the oil leak is completely eliminated, which, according to Gazprom, is possible only under the conditions of a specialized repair company, Nord Stream will not work. Previously, the company promised to launch it on the night of September 3rd.

The company clarified that similar oil leaks were previously detected at other GPUs with engines No. 075, No. 076, No. 120. Previously, they underwent a factory overhaul, and now they are in a state of downtime.

“According to information from Siemens, the complete elimination of oil leakage on these engines is possible only in the conditions of a specialized repair shop. A letter regarding the identified malfunctions of the Trent 60 unit (No. 24) and the need to eliminate them was sent to the President and CEO of Siemens Energy AG, Christian Bruch,” the gas company said.

The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline is operating at 20% of its capacity because of the six Siemens turbines (five working and one standby) at the Portovaya gas pumping station, only one is currently operating. The rest either need scheduled maintenance and repair, or they have malfunctions, reported August 11, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Germany.

Canada stated on plans to return to Gazprom the five turbines for Nord Stream, which are still under maintenance in Montreal. Russian energy company deniedthat they were taken to Canada. Another Siemens turbine is located in Germany.

Nord Stream’s only Trent 60 turbine was stopped from August 31 to September 2 for maintenance. After the shutdown of Nord Stream for repairs, Russian gas is supplied to Europe through one branch of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline, as well as through the Turkish Stream.

Today, September 2, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen statedthat the time has come for it to impose price caps on pipeline gas from Russia. Ms von der Leyen stressed that gas storage facilities in the EU were 80% full ahead of schedule.

At the same time, Gazprom considerthat in winter prices can rise to $4,000 per 1,000 cubic meters, setting a new absolute record.