The Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court (Germany) has refused to exempt the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from the application of the renewed EU Gas Directive. The ruling can be appealed. The rules require the owners of pipelines to be different from the suppliers of the gas that flows in them to ensure fair competition. In May 2020, the German Federal Network Agency refused to grant an exemption to the project. The challenge was brought by the Nord Stream consortium, which includes five companies: Gazprom (51%), Wintershall Dea (15.5%), PEG Infrastruktur AD, a subsidiary of E.ON Beteiligungen (15.5%), NV Nederlandse Gasunie (9%) and Engie (9%).
The pipeline is aimed at doubling the throughput of the current Nord Stream route between Vyborg (Russia) and Greifswald (Germany), from 55 bcm/year to 110 bcm/year. Natural gas is supplied by Gazprom. The US$11bn project is expected to be completed in 2021. Nord Stream 1, which was commissioned in 2011, has been exempt from unbundling rules because it was treated as an interconnector rather than a direct supplier.