Gas turbine for Nord Stream 1 is said to be on the way – criticism in Canada
There has been a dispute over the delivery of a gas turbine for Nord Stream 1 for several weeks. Now the plant is said to be on its way back to Russia.

Ottawa, Düsseldorf According to reports in the Russian newspaper Kommersant, the repaired gas turbine for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline has been delivered from Canada to Germany. Reports the Russian newspaper, citing people familiar with the events.

If there are no problems with logistics or customs, it will take another five to seven days for the plant manufactured by Siemens Energy to arrive in Russia.

The Berlin energy technology group Siemens Energy initially did not want to comment on the reports on request. Even the Federal Ministry of Economics did not want to comment on the report. Where the turbine is now and when it will arrive at the owner Gazprom also touches on security issues, the ministry justified its silence.

The maintenance work on the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 should be completed by Thursday. It is unclear whether Kremlin boss Putin will turn on the gas tap again. Moscow is enjoying the power game.

Russia’s energy giant Gazprom does not want to commit itself to the future of energy supply in Germany and the other EU countries. The maintenance work on the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 – the most important supply line from Russia to Germany – should be completed this Thursday (July 21).

But it’s still missing a key turbine that Canada has long held back because of sanctions following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In Russia, no one expects it to be reinstalled by the last day of maintenance. This has consequences for the gas supply in Germany and Europe.

The reliable operation of the Nord Stream gas pipeline and the supply of European consumers depend on this, Gazprom announced at the weekend. The company complains that there are no documents from the German company Siemens Energy that confirm the return of the gas turbine. Siemens Energy did not want to provide any information on the current situation on Monday. It remains the case that our goal is to transport the turbine to its place of use as quickly as possible.

According to Gazprom, it is important for the Portovaya compressor station, which in turn is essential for the operation of Nord Stream 1. Even before the start of the ten-day maintenance work, Gazprom had throttled the flow of gas through the pipeline by 60 percent. This drove the already high gas prices further up.

Malicious joy in the state media
With regard to the maintenance work, Moscow emphasizes that Russia wants to continue to fulfill its obligations as a gas supplier in the future. But the energy crisis in Europe has long revolved around the turbine, because the German government fears that Russia could use its absence as an excuse to cut supplies entirely.

Almost every day, the Russian state media reports with glee, how the German federal government is calling for energy saving due to the uncertain situation around Nord Stream 1 and is spending billions to cushion the social consequences of the rapidly rising cost of living. We didn’t introduce the sanctions against us, says the news presenter on TV channel Perwy Kanal.

However, when asked whether Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin would turn on the gas tap again, Moscow did not give a clear answer. The only thing that is clear is that Russia is the most likely to shift the responsibility for possible difficulties. Gazprom also repeatedly emphasizes that it has pointed out that gas storage facilities in Europe are hardly full.

It’s always the others’ fault
The state-owned company also blames Ukraine for the situation because not even half of the possible daily delivery volume is routed through the country’s transit network. Ukraine, which despite Moscow’s war of aggression is still pumping around 40 million cubic meters of gas a day to Western Europe, would prefer the EU to forgo supplies from Russia altogether. The Yamal-Europe gas pipeline has also been shut down because Poland refused to pay for the gas in rubles, as Putin had demanded.

From the Russian point of view, the others should always be to blame for the problems. In view of the energy crisis with high prices and uncertain supply, Moscow is reminded that there is a very simple solution to the situation: Nord Stream 2. The gas pipeline is finished, but never went into operation because of the Ukraine war. Putin had explained that deliveries via this line could bring prices down again and ease the situation overall.

Many experts agree that Russia itself has no interest in appearing in this conflict as the side breaking treaties. Other major customers such as China or Turkey, which are also supplied via newly built gas pipelines, could be alarmed and doubt Russia’s reliability if the energy superpower Europe turns off the tap. Russia has long had a reputation for using its energy as a geopolitical weapon.

On the other hand, those who are on good terms with Russia – such as Serbia, Hungary and above all neighboring Belarus – can traditionally count on friendly prizes. China also gets gas at a significantly lower price than the West.

Moscow depends on gas revenues
Some politicians in Moscow would like to turn off the gas taps of the EU states because of the West’s anti-Russian policy. It is said everywhere that the West was only able to build up its prosperity in this way thanks to Russia’s raw materials. The development can now finally be stopped and thrown back.

Nevertheless, the Russian energy and finance expert Marcel Salikhov points out that Moscow is dependent on the income from gas sales and uses it to finance its national budget. It is also not possible to simply divert the quantities sold to Europe and sell them elsewhere at the usual prices in the West. This cannot be redirected to China either. There are no gas pipelines with spare capacity, says the president of the Moscow Institute of Energy and Finance at the School of Economics.

In addition, Russia’s gas liquefaction plants are working at full capacity. In the event of the gas tap being turned off, the country would have to significantly reduce its production volumes, says Salichow. But even that is not so easy. Better supply the domestic market with the surplus quantities? The expert explains that more than two thirds of the gas produced in Russia is already being used in the country. Consumption cannot simply be ramped up.

Sanction pressure in focus
Many production facilities in Russia have already come to a standstill due to the sanctions imposed by the West. And even if the sometimes poor connection of the population in rural regions to the gas network is an issue in Russia, experts do not expect that expensive lines will suddenly be laid everywhere. Gazprom thus earns less than from exports.

Russia’s goal should therefore be to continue to deliver to the EU – albeit on clear terms. Last but not least, this should include an end to the sanctions pressure in the Ukraine war. Any sanctions bypassed by the West itself are celebrated in Moscow as a triumph. Most recently, Putin forced many buyers in the EU to pay in rubles for Russian gas. And the gas turbine should also return to Russia despite the sanctions. That could give Germany hope, writes the Moscow newspaper Kommersant. But there is no guarantee that shipments will then pick up again.