Russian energy giant Gazprom announced on Thursday that it will use the onshore capacity of Nord Stream 2, designed to pump natural gas to Germany, for Russia’s domestic market.
“As the Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipeline is currently not in use, and taking into account the gas supply requirements of consumers in northwest Russia, Gazprom has decided to use the excess onshore gas transmission capacity of Nord Stream 2 to develop gas supplies to the regions of northwest Russia,” the company said on its official Telegram channel.
Gazprom noted that only half of the pipeline’s capacity would be available for Europe if the pipeline were allowed to operate in the future.
“If the German side decides to commission Nord Stream 2, only one line of the pipeline with 100% load can be put into operation,” it said, adding that “the commissioning of the second offshore string of Nord Stream 2 may not begin until 2028.”
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline stretches from the Russian coast under the Baltic Sea to Germany. Its construction was completed in September 2021, and by December it was ready for operation. However, German authorities stopped certification of the pipeline prior to the conflict in Ukraine. The two-string pipeline was supposed to pump 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from Russia to Germany.
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