Nord Stream 2 completes German permitting

Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline has received its permit for construction and operation in the German exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Germany’s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) issued the permit for the roughly 30-km section within the EEZ in accordance with the country’s Federal Mining Act.

The Stralsund Mining Authority had in January approved construction and operation in German territorial waters and the landfall area. Nord Stream 2’s German passage will cross a total of 85 km.

The BSH permitting, begun in April 2017, determined that Nord Stream 2:

• Is needed to cover part of Europe’s future supply gap.

• Will contribute to increasing security of supply and competition in the European Union gas market.

• Is the most efficient way, both economically and ecologically, to transport gas from Russia to European consumers.

• Can be built in an environmentally friendly way, with any impacts being local and temporary.

• Can help achieve climate goals.

The national permitting processes in the other four countries along the route—Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark—are proceeding as planned, Nord Stream said. Further permits are expected to be issued in the coming months, with construction scheduled to start this year.

Nord Stream 2—owned by PJSC Gazprom with investment from Engie, OMV AG, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Uniper, and Wintershall Holding GMBH—is opposed by 39 US senators and the administration of President Donald Trump as a step backwards in Europe’s efforts to diversify its gas supplies (OGJ Online, Mar. 15, 2018).