Swedish and Danish authorities said on Tuesday that two Nord Stream gas pipelines, which were out of service due to the war in Ukraine between Russia and Germany, were affected by unexplained gas leaks in the Baltic Sea.
Two gas pipelines run by a consortium of Russian group Gazprom, which have been the target of geopolitical tensions in recent months, are down due to the war in Ukraine, but are still filled with natural gas used to heat homes, generate electricity and provide electricity. operation of factories.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was “extremely concerned” about the leaks detected and did not rule out “any possibility”, including sabotage.
Denmark put its entire energy infrastructure on alert, but said it was “too early” to determine the causes of the incidents.
On Monday night, the consortium managing the pipelines reported a sudden drop in pressure on Nord Stream 1.
On Tuesday morning, Danish Minister of Climate and Energy Dan Jørgensen and Swedish maritime authorities confirmed two leaks in the pipeline.
Like the leak recorded on the eve of Nord Stream 2, problems were identified on the Danish island of Bornholm, one in Denmark’s exclusive economic zone and the other in Sweden.
Extremely rare leaks
“Pipeline leaks are extremely rare and so we see a reason to increase the level of vigilance after the recorded incidents in the last 24 hours,” said Kristoffer Böttzauw, director of the Danish Energy Agency. Said.
He promised “in-depth surveillance of Denmark’s critical infrastructure”.
The Scandinavian country has raised the alert in the electricity and gas sector to the second-highest orange level, banning navigation within a radius of 5 nautical miles (9 km) and flying within a radius of one kilometer around the leaks.
Concrete measures to strengthen the safety of factories and facilities should be implemented by companies in the sector.
Built with its predecessor, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was supposed to double Russia’s import capacity to Germany. But soon its operation was suspended due to reprisals against Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine.
German authorities have so far not commented on the leaks. However, according to a source close to the government quoted by the German newspaper Taggesspiegel, “everything goes against chance”.
“We can’t imagine a scenario other than targeted attack,” the source said.
According to Danish authorities, the events do not affect the country’s energy supply or the safety or health of residents of the islands of Bornholm and Christiansø.
Coincidentally, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, together with his Norwegian and Polish colleagues, inaugurated the Baltic Pipe, a gas pipeline connecting Poland and Norway via Denmark.
source: Noticias
