Canada has returned to Russia a repaired turbine for gas deliveries to Europe after weeks of uncertainty over sanctions and scaled-down supplies, the Kommersant business daily reported Monday.
With Russian gas flows to Europe declining since Russia invaded Ukraine in February and triggered Western sanctions, Canada has recently agreed to allow the return of the Siemens Canada turbine to Russian energy giant Gazprom.
The turbine was loaded onto a plane to Germany on Sunday to speed up its arrival, according to Kommersant, which cited unnamed sources familiar with its itinerary.
It will then cross the land border with Finland and is scheduled to arrive at Russia’s Portovaya station around July 24.
After three to four days of installation, the gas pumping unit should be reportedly ready to release gas into the Nord Stream pipeline in early August.
Nord Stream typically supplies Germany with 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year since it was commissioned in 2012.
Russia blamed the absence of the turbine for winding down gas supplies to Europe by 60% in mid-June.
Last Monday, Gazprom started 10 days of maintenance on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which have been scheduled long in advance and are expected to resume on July 21.
The European Union and its gas-reliant economic powerhouse Germany, however, have expressed fears that Gazprom could shut off the valves without resuming supplies amid tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine war.
Canada returned the turbine two days after Gazprom submitted an official request to Siemens to allow its export to the Portovaya station.
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