A Russian environmental watchdog approved the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline through its waters, becoming the third country to grant permission for the Gazprom-led link across the Baltic Sea, the pipeline consortium said Friday
The Federal Inspection Service for Natural Resources Use granted an offshore permit for the 123-kilometer Russian section of the pipe, Nord Stream said in a statement on its web site. The move marked the conclusion of an “extensive process of environmental impact assessments,” it said.
The pipeline, scheduled to start sending gas to Europe in 2011, would pass through Russian, Finnish, Swedish, Danish and German territorial waters. Denmark and Sweden have already granted permits for construction, while Finland has cleared two of three steps needed for approval.
The German permitting process is “nearing completion,” Nord Stream managing director Matthias Warnig said in the statement. “We are firmly on schedule to start construction of the pipeline in spring 2010,” he said.
The 1,220-kilometer link will initially deliver 27.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Vyborg, Russia, to Greifswald, in northern Germany. The link will bypass Ukraine, potentially helping to avert a repeat of the gas dispute that disrupted Russian shipments to Europe in January.
Gazprom owns 51 percent of Nord Stream. Germany’s BASF and E.On Ruhrgas each hold 20 percent and Nederlandse Gasunie has 9 percent.