Nord Stream AG is pleased to announce that all three sections of its first 1,224 kilometre gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea have now been laid and will be joined together underwater off the coast of Finland and Sweden in the summer. The new pipeline system will start transporting natural gas from Russia directly to the European Union on schedule in the last quarter of 2011. Construction of the second of the twin pipelines is scheduled for completion in 2012.

“Europe will soon have the security of the privately-financed, 7.4 billion euros Nord Stream project providing a fixed link between the European gas grid and some of the world’s largest gas reserves in Russia for at least 50 years,” said Nord Stream’s Managing Director Matthias Warnig. “At a time when recent world events have led to increased concern about nuclear energy and energy imports from North Africa, our major new infrastructure project takes on more importance for both Europe and Russia,” he added.

When both lines are completed in late 2012, Nord Stream will have the capacity to transport 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year from Russia to Europe, enough to supply 26 million homes. No other major new pipeline with a capacity over 10 bcm is expected to come on-stream before 2015.

Nord Stream was able to design its 1,224 kilometre pipeline to operate without an intermediate compressor station, but with three different design pressures and pipe wall thicknesses as the gas pressure drops over its long journey from Russia to landfall in Germany. The connection of these three pipeline sections will be carried out at the two offshore locations where the design pressure changes from 220 to 200 bar and from 200 to 170 bar respectively. The Gulf of Finland section and the Central section will be connected off the coast of Finland in spring at a sea depth of approximately 80 metres. The connection of the Central and the South Western section off the coast of Gotland, Sweden, in the summer, at a depth of approximately 110 metres, will mark the completion of construction of Line 1.

Each of the three sections is gauged and thoroughly pressure-tested before being joined together and linked to the landfalls in Russia and Germany. The pre-commissioning activities for Line 1 have started as planned. For the offshore sections 1 and 2, cleaning, gauging and pressure testing have already been successfully completed. The pressure test for section 3 will now follow the mechanical completion of pipe laying. On the site of the German landfall all piping has been completed and successfully pressure tested. For the Russian landfall site pressure testing is expected by the end of May after completion of all welding works. Further rigorous testing will be carried out on the whole system before it becomes operational in the last quarter of 2011.