Just 30 months after the start of construction of its first pipeline, Nord Stream’s twin pipeline system came on stream today, on schedule and on budget. International specialists worked around the clock under the most challenging conditions to construct the pipelines with a total weight of 4 million tonnes.

Nord Stream Managing Director Matthias Warnig said: “We are proud of this incredible achievement, made possible thanks to the dedication of everyone at Nord Stream, the support of our shareholders, as well as, of suppliers and contractors from all over the world.”

Nord Stream’s second pipeline was officially inaugurated today, completing the fully-integrated twin-pipeline system. The Nord Stream pipeline system will provide the capacity to transport up to 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas a year from Russia to the European Union for at least 50 years. Line 1 began transporting gas to Europe in November 2011.

Gerhard Schröder, Chairman of the Nord Stream Shareholders’ Committee said: “Nord Stream is without a doubt one of the most modern systems for transporting energy ensuring that Europe enjoys a reliable supply from the world’s largest deposits in Russia. Today, we can proudly say ‘We Deliver!”

To mark the occasion of both pipelines being fully operational, a ceremony was held today at Portovaya Bay, on Russia’s Baltic coast, in the presence of distinguished guests, representatives of several European countries and Nord Stream’s shareholders. By starting the gas flow in the control centre of the nearby Gazprom Compressor Station Portovaya, Russian gas can now be pumped without the need for interim re-compression all the way through the Baltic Sea, and onwards into the European gas transmission network. The state-of-the-art compressor units generate pressures of up to 220 bar, enough to take the gas through both 1,224 kilometre pipelines to Lubmin on the German Baltic Coast.

The precise routing of the pipelines had been agreed over a four-year period of intensive consultations with the nine countries bordering the Baltic Sea. Environmental monitoring results confirm the low environmental impact from the construction of the Nord Stream Pipelines.

Mr Warnig added: “I am very pleased to report that we completed this ambitious infrastructure project on schedule and on budget. Looking at the number of other pipeline projects in various stages of planning in Europe – Nord Stream certainly serves as the new benchmark. In terms of design, construction, safety, environmental compliance and the operation of our pipelines – we truly deliver!”

Press Release, October 08, 2012