The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is an export pipeline project that will transport Russian natural gas to the European Union through the Baltic Sea
Image: Pioneering Spirit installing a pipe of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Swedish waters. Photo: courtesy of Nord Stream 2 / Axel Schmidt.
Gazprom and its partners have secured construct permit from the Danish Energy Agency for the 147km long pipeline segment of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline planned to be laid in the Danish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The permit allows Nord Stream 2, the project company, to move ahead with construction of the pipeline segment on the Danish continental shelf southeast of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is a $9bn underwater export pipeline project that will deliver Russian natural gas to the European Union through the Baltic Sea. The natural gas pipeline will be made up of two offshore export gas pipelines, each of 1,230km length.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline project had previously secured permits in Russia, Finland, Sweden and Germany.
Nord Stream 2 Denmark permitting manager Samira Kiefer Andersson said: “We are pleased to have obtained Denmark’s consent to construct the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline through the Danish continental shelf area in the Baltic Sea south-east of Bornholm. We will continue the constructive cooperation with Danish authorities to complete the construction of the pipeline.”
The approval from the Danish Energy Agency comes after submission of three applications from Nord Stream 2 for the proposed route of the underwater export pipeline project.
In April 2019, Nord Stream 2 applied for two alternatives routes, southeast of Bornholm with lengths of 147km and 164km, respectively. The Danish Energy Agency concluded that the southeastern route on the Danish EEZ is preferable to the northwestern route.
The regulator, in a statement, said: “Among the two southeastern route alternatives proposed by the company, the Danish Energy Agency has approved the shortest route, since this route provides the least risk and impact from an environmental and safety perspective and therefore is the preferable choice.”
More than 2,100km of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline laid so far
According to Nord Stream 2, preparatory works and the subsequent pipelay pertaining to the Danish part of the pipeline will begin in the coming weeks. The project company said that more than 2,100km of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline have been laid till date.
Nord Stream 2 further said that pipelay has been completed in the Russian, Finnish and Swedish waters, and for the most part in the territorial waters of Germany. The construction of the pipeline’s landfall facilities in Russia and Germany are on the verge of completion, said the project company.