Zug, Switzerland, April 16 - Neftegaz.RU. More than 2 years after submitting its 1st application for a route through Danish waters, Nord Stream 2 AG has submitted a 3rd application. Together with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), it covers a route in the Danish exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the waters south of Bornholm.
This application and the EIA has been submitted in accordance with the decision made by the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) on March 26, 2019. The EEZ border between Poland and Denmark was previously disputed and therefore the area was not available for any project developer. An agreement has been reached between the two countries, which, however, has not yet been ratified by Poland.
Nord Stream 2 already has 2 pending applications with the DEA. Both permitting processes, which included consultations with the public and expert authorities, nationally and internationally (the so-called Espoo procedure), have shown that all technical and environmental prerequisites are fulfilled and a construction permit could be granted for either route.
Violation of investors’ trust
For a project developer like Nord Stream 2 AG, it is incomprehensible why there has still been no decision on the route through territorial waters after 16 months since entry into force of the amended Danish Continental Shelf Act, and why there has been no decision on the route north-west of Bornholm even though there have been and are no relevant environmental or safety objections against this route.
Asking for a 3rd route option to be developed, despite 2 fully processed, ready-to-be-permitted applications on the table, can only be seen as a deliberate attempt to delay the project’s completion.
In accordance with the permits in four countries, work on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is ongoing in Russia, Finland, Sweden and Germany. More than 1,000 km, approximately the distance from Copenhagen to Paris, of the 2 lines have been laid.
To read the news in Russian.
Author: ВАВ
