BERLIN: The Canadian government says it will allow the delivery of equipment to Germany from a key Russia-Europe natural gas pipeline that has undergone maintenance—equipment the absence of which Russia’s Gazprom cited last month as a reason for more than halving the flow of gas.
The return of turbines from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline sent to Montreal for a scheduled overhaul has been complicated by sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine. Canada’s minister of natural resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, said in a statement late on Saturday that “Canada will grant a time-limited and revocable permit for Siemens Canada to allow the return of repaired Nord Stream 1 turbines to Germany.” That, Wilkinson said in the statement posted on Twitter, will support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas.” He said that “absent a necessary supply of natural gas, the German economy will suffer very significant hardship.”
Siemens Energy said after Gazprom started reducing gas flows in mid-June that it had been unable to return a gas turbine that powers a compressor station on the pipeline, which had been overhauled after more than 10 years in service, to the customer, Gazprom. German politicians have dismissed the Russian explanation for the 60% reduction in gas flows through Nord Stream 1, saying that equipment shouldn’t have been a significant issue until the fall and the Russian decision was a political gambit to sow uncertainty and push up prices.
The Canadian move comes before Nord Stream 1 is due to shut down for annual maintenance on Monday. In previous summers, the work led to a roughly 10-day shutdown, but German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck has said he suspects that Russia may cite “some little technical detail” as a reason not to resume gas deliveries.