Russia made good on its threat and shut down a turbine of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline

The pipeline is working at 19.5% of its capacity. The Russian state claimed technical problems. Germany suffers the consequences

Russia once again reduced gas deliveries through Nord Stream 1.
Germany is the most affected country.
The European Union is looking for a solidarity mechanism among member countries for the supply.

As planned, Russia interrupted the gas supply from the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. The Russian government again argued technical reasons for this.

The gas service was halved due to this interruption. The current use of the lines reaches 19.5% of their actual capacity, as reported by the Federal Network Agency. The Russian state again stated the maintenance of a Siemens turbine on the pipeline. From Germany government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffman stated that this is a “power play” on the part of Vladimir Putin.

“The turbine is there, it is repaired. Nothing stands in the way of a transport from Russia. It does not depend on the German side” the spokeswoman maintained. “Businesses and private consumers will have to adjust to the significant increase in gas prices” the official said.

The disruption hurts Germany in the first place as the Teutonic country is unable to fill its winter gas storage facilities. These facilities are at 67% of their capacity when they should be at 95% by mid-November. For this reason, the German state is in a race against time to be able to obtain the gas it lacks in an ever shorter period of time. The search for alternatives to Russian gas is alarming.

One small option to this situation comes from France. France would send 20 terawatt hours of gas to its neighboring country. However, this would be equivalent to only 2% of Germany’s consumption needs.

The European Union has set the objective of reducing gas consumption among its member countries. It is also seeking to initiate a solidarity mechanism between states to try to supply gas supplies. The latent fear is that Russia will completely stop gas deliveries in the coming weeks.