Danish Energy Agency
“Nordstream 1 and 2 gas pressure enters a ‘stable state'”
The cause of the accident is difficult to determine due to the Russian-Western military conflict
All gas leaks from the Northstream, an undersea natural gas pipeline connecting Russia to Europe, have stopped. However, it is expected that it will take a considerable amount of time before the cause of the accident is identified and the gas pipeline is restored.
The Danish Energy Agency explained on its Twitter account on the 2nd that the leak had ended, saying, “Nordstream AG, the gas pipeline operator, has informed that the pressure in the gas pipeline at Nordstream 1 appears to have stabilized.”
The previous day, the Danish Energy Agency announced that the Northstream 2 leak had stopped. With the announcement on this day, the leak of Northstream 1, which is known to be more severely damaged, also stopped, and all the leaks of Northstream gas stopped.
Northstream AG spokeswoman Ulrich Risek told AFP that “the gas pipe is almost blocked by the hydraulic pressure, so the gas inside the pipe is not coming out.” As the gas leaked, the atmospheric pressure inside the gas pipe dropped, which meant that the pressure equilibrium between the surrounding seawater and the gas occurred, temporarily stopping the leak. He declined to answer immediately regarding the amount of gas remaining.
However, it is expected that it will take a considerable amount of time to determine the cause of the accident. This is because, due to the nature of the submarine gas pipeline, it is practically difficult to access the site due to safety issues. It is also difficult to determine the subject and method of the investigation. The leak point is off the coast of Denmark and Sweden, which are member of the European Union (EU), but the largest shareholder of Nordstream operator AG is Russian state-owned Gazprom. It is interpreted that it is difficult to reach an agreement because Russia and the West are pointing arrows at each other over who is behind the incident.
Germany has expressed its willingness to jointly investigate with the Danish and Swedish authorities in charge of the leaking area, but Russia is stating that it should not be excluded from the investigation because it is the owner of the gas pipeline.
It is also unclear when the gas pipeline will be restored. Sergei Kupriyanov Gazprom, spokesman for the UN Security Council, told the UN Security Council on the 30th of last month that there had been no leaks like this before, so it was impossible to set a time for the restoration to be completed, dpa news agency reported.
Some argue that recovery may not be possible. This is because the steel is corroded by the salt water when seawater flows into the gas pipe in earnest.
On the 26th and 27th of last month, three Northstream 1 and Northstream 2 gas pipelines passing the seabed in Denmark and Sweden’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) were identified as leaking points presumed to have been caused by a large explosion. Since then, one additional leak point was found, raising concerns regarding safety accidents and environmental damage.
By Park Joo-yeon, staff reporter [email protected]