Nord Stream 2 has laid the second line of its gas pipeline project in the Finnish Exclusive Economic Zone, completing the installation of twin gas pipelines in the Finnish waters. So far, the company has laid more than 1,800 km of gas pipelines in Finnish, Russian, Swedish and German waters and expects to flow first gas by the end of 2019.
The €9.5bn (US$11bn) Nord Stream 2 project 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. It is developed by Gazprom (50%), Uniper, Shell, OMV, Wintershall and Engie (10% each).
Denmark is the sole country that has not yet issued a construction permit and the consortium is locking horns with the European Commission on EU gas rules. In late July 2019, NordStream 2 brought an action for annulment before the General Court of the European Union, over the Directive (EU) 2019/692 amending the EU Gas Directive that requires gas pipelines not to be owned directly by gas suppliers and to make render available to third parties at least 10% of capacity. In addition, Nord Stream 2 is considering proceeding separately with arbitration against the European Union pursuant to the investment protection guarantees of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).