Kommersant: Siemens Energy sent Gazprom an export license for a turbine until the end of 2024
Germany’s Siemens Energy, which manufactures gas turbines, has sent an export license issued by Canada to Gazprom. About it informs “Kommersant”.
The license allows repairing and transporting gas turbines for Nord Stream until the end of 2024. According to the publication, now the turbine, which is located in Germany, can be sent to Russia in the middle of the week, but on the condition that Gazprom sends the documents necessary for customs control: a change in the delivery basis (currently Montreal) to the point in Russia.
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According to the current agreement with Siemens Energy for the repair of turbines, Gazprom was supposed to pick up the repaired turbine in Canada on its own, however, due to the sanctions imposed by this country against Gazprom, this became impossible. As a result, Siemens took over the delivery of the turbine to Russia. At the same time, the shipping documentation has not changed.
Problems with pumping gas to Europe
In mid-June, Gazprom announced technical problems with the Nord Stream pipeline. The company said Siemens brand gas pumping units are being repaired in Canada and cannot be returned to Russia due to sanctions. Against this backdrop, the pipeline’s daily throughput has fallen by 40 percent since June 16.
Gas supplies to the Nord Stream gas pipeline can currently be provided in the amount of up to 100 million cubic meters per day (with a planned volume of 167 million cubic meters per day)
Later, Siemens Energy CEO Joe Keser said that the decline in Russian gas supplies to Germany was for political reasons, and not because of the failure to return the turbine for the Nord Stream gas pipeline from repair, as the Russian authorities claim.
It is very convenient to drag a company that is known in Russia into a conflict. Even if it were, it would never justify such a massive reduction in gas flow.
Later, Siemens Energy disowned the scandal surrounding the turbine for the Gazprom compressor station Portovaya, which serves the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
Route of the turbine for Nord Stream to Russia
The turbine for the Nord Stream gas pipeline got stuck during transit to Germany. According to Reuters, the timing of delivery to Russia is not yet clear. The reason for the delay is the lack of permission from the Russian side.
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It is noted that the delivery of equipment to Gazprom may take days or even weeks. According to the publication, Russia has not yet provided the documents required for the turbine to be imported into the country. Also, Germany still does not know where to deliver the turbine and through which customs post.
Sometimes it seems that Russia no longer wants to take her [турбину] back. This means that the presence of technical problems is only a pretext and in fact there is a political underlying reason here, which contradicts Russia’s status as a guarantor of Europe’s energy security.
From Canada, where the turbine was being repaired, it was shipped on 17 July. Then it was expected that she would arrive in Russia approximately on July 24, and commissioning work would take another three to four days.
Forecasts
Igor Yushkov, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund (NESF), suggested that after repairing the turbines, Gazprom would restore pumping to 67-65 million cubic meters and would not reduce throughput.
For him, this is also an opportunity to give the West a positive signal. So, the company says that as soon as the sanctions are lifted, the situation is getting better. At the same time, I assume that the Russian side will demand guarantees of long-term contracts, because even if Canada agrees to repair our equipment now, there is no certainty that it will continue to follow this agreement, so we still remain at risk
In his opinion, the most profitable option for Gazprom would be to simply replace Nord Stream with Nord Stream 2. At the same time, he admits the risk of a complete shutdown of Nord Stream with the simultaneous non-launch of Nord Stream 2. He believes that this will be fraught with painful consequences not only for Moscow, but also for Berlin.
It is difficult, of course, to say how realistic such a scenario is, but there are risks. If Canada and Germany decide that all the actions of Gazprom come down to a political game and there is no point in repairing turbines, then there is a high probability that Nord Stream will be stopped by the heating season. But even if the throughput remains the same and does not increase, the Germans will still not have time to prepare for the cold season.
BCS Global Markets Senior Analyst Ronald Smith, in turn, said that the main gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, Nord Stream, could start operating at full capacity in August 2022 – then gas supplies to Europe would be restored.
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