Nord Stream Pipeline Fully Shut Down

Gas transmission via the Nord Stream gas pipeline has been fully shut down, Gazprom revealed in a statement posted on its Twitter page late on September 2.

“During scheduled maintenance works at the Trent 60 gas compressor unit (GCU No. 24) of the Portovaya CS, which were carried out jointly with Siemens, it was discovered that there is a leakage of oil with a sealing compound in it that has reached the terminal connections in the cable lines serving the low pressure and intermediate pressure rotor speed sensors,” Gazprom noted in the statement.

The presence of oil was detected on the detachable cable connection of the BPE2 mounting plate, which forms part of the engine, and near the cable line located in the outer terminal cabinet of the GCU’s automated control system, according to Gazprom’s statement. A report on the detection of the oil leakage was drawn up, which was also signed by Siemens representatives, Gazprom added.

“Rostekhnadzor of Russia issued a warning that the detected faults and failures make it impossible to ensure the safe and trouble free operation of the gas turbine engine,” Gazprom said in the statement.

“Therefore, it is required to take appropriate measures and suspend the operation of the Trent 60 gas compressor unit in view of the identified gross violations,” Gazprom added.

“Gas transmission via the Nord Stream gas pipeline has been fully shut down until the operational defects in the equipment are eliminated,” Gazprom continued.

In the statement, Gazprom noted that similar oil leakages were detected in the past at the GCUs with the engine numbers 075, 076 and 120, which the company said have undergone major factory repairs and are now in forced downtime.

“According to Siemens, oil leakages in these engines cannot be fully eliminated unless repairs take place at a specialized repair facility,” Gazprom said.

The company highlighted that a letter outlining the faults detected in the Trent 60 No. 24 unit and the need to eliminate the faults was sent to Christian Bruch, the president and CEO of Siemens Energy AG.

When Rigzone emailed Siemens Energy asking if the company had any comment on Gazprom’s Twitter statement, a Siemens Energy representative told Rigzone, “we are aware of the latest reports”.

“As the manufacturer of the turbines, we can only state that such a finding is not a technical reason for stopping operation. Such leakages do not usually affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site,” the representative added.

“It is a routine procedure during maintenance work. In the past, the occurrence of this type of leakage has not resulted in a shutdown of operations. Siemens Energy is currently not contracted for maintenance work, but is standing by,” the representative continued.

“Irrespective of this, we have already pointed out several times that there are enough additional turbines available at the Portovaya compressor station for Nord Stream 1 to operate,” the Siemens Energy representative went on to say.

In a statement posted on his Twitter page on Friday, Eric Mamer, the chief spokesperson of the European Commission, said “Gazprom’s announcement this afternoon that it is once again shutting down Nord Stream 1 under fallacious pretenses is another confirmation of its unreliability as a supplier”.

“It’s also proof of Russia’s cynicism, as it prefers to flare gas instead of honoring contracts,” Mamer added in the statement.

Last month, Gazprom revealed on Twitter that gas supplies via the Nord Stream pipeline would be suspended from August 31 to September 2 for maintenance works. In that statement, the company noted that, “upon the completion of maintenance operations, provided that no malfunctions are identified, gas transmission will be resumed at the rate of 33 million cubic meters per day”.

In a market note sent to Rigzone in August, Rystad Energy analyst Lu Ming Pang highlighted that 33 million cubic meters per day is 20 percent capacity for the Nord Stream pipeline.

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