Mülheim an der Ruhr Germany has been puzzling over the status and whereabouts of the SGT-A65 gas turbine for weeks. Because, according to Russia, the restoration of the gas supply via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline depends on it. On Wednesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) visited the plant in Mülheim an der Ruhr. After the maintenance in Canada, it has been there for almost two weeks in a warehouse of the German technology specialist Siemens Energy.
Scholz calls the turbine an “impressive piece of technology”. He can’t help but smile. But there is nothing “mystical” to consider here: “The turbine is there and can be delivered. Someone just has to say: I want her – then she’ll be there very quickly,” emphasizes the SPD politician. And that is precisely the reason for the chancellor’s spontaneous visit to the Ruhr area. It is a demonstration and a clear signal to Russia.
In mid-June, the Russian gas company Gazprom cut deliveries via Nord Stream 1 to 40 percent. In the meantime, only 20 percent come through the connection between Russia and Germany.
Chancellor shows gas turbine: “Nothing stands in the way of transport”
“Technical defects” are to blame, Gazprom has been making excuses for weeks. The problem is rather the Germans and their company Siemens Energy. This is also the view taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the run-up to his visit, Scholz had described this as “Putin’s bluff”, which has now been exposed as such.
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Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch also disagrees. There are no technical reasons why only 20 percent of natural gas from Russia is currently arriving via the Baltic Sea pipeline. “There are six such turbines in the compressor station in Portovaya, Russia, plus two smaller ones. It takes five for full power. Only one of them is currently running. From a technical point of view, we cannot understand that,” Bruch criticized sharply in the direction of Russia. The company also has no reports of technical defects in other turbines.
Schröder criticizes and calls for Nord Stream 2 to be put into operation
Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who until recently was a member of the supervisory board of the Russian energy company Rosneft, also got involved in the debate. In an interview with the media of the RTL group, Putin’s confidante also blamed Siemens Energy for the delays. He doesn’t know why the turbine is in Mülheim and not in Russia. He also called for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was controversial and recently stopped by the Chancellor as part of the sanctions against Russia, to be put into operation.
One of the central cards in the power game over gas flow through Nord Stream 1 is a turbine from Siemens Energy. It is said to be the SGT-A65 model, a so-called aeroderivative turbine.
(Photo: dpa)
When asked about the statements, Scholz avoided direct criticism of his party colleague. He only made one thing very clear: “We ended the approval process for Nord Stream 2 for good reasons. There is sufficient capacity at Nord Stream 1 and no shortage of opportunities for Russia to fulfill its contracts through it or through the Ukraine pipeline.”
The turbine epic, under which Scholz and Siemens Energy now want to draw a line, began with the routine maintenance of the device in Canada. From there it could not be taken directly back to Russia due to Canadian sanctions as a result of the war of aggression against Ukraine. Which is why it was transported by air to Cologne/Bonn Airport and then to Mülheim. However, their use in the pipeline was not planned until September anyway.
>> Read also: counter of Siemens on Gazprom’s turbine saga was overdue
“What is missing are the necessary customs documents for importing into Russia,” said Siemens Energy previously. Again, this information could only be provided by Gazprom. Almost like a mantra, CEO Bruch repeated again on Wednesday: “The transport of the turbine has been prepared and can start immediately.”
All turbines in the 1,224-kilometer Nord Stream 1 pipeline are regularly serviced at intervals of three to five years. They are part of the routine and are planned in advance. This also applies to the maintenance of the turbine now stored in the Ruhr area. Incidentally, their scheduled deployment was not scheduled until September. Meanwhile, in Portovaya, a functioning replacement turbine is waiting to be used. “However, Gazprom usually only uses such a spare part when the original is on its way back,” said Bruch. One is in constant dialogue with representatives of the Russian state-owned company, “but there is no agreement”.
To put it diplomatically, Gazprom has done everything in its power over the past few weeks to publicly denounce the German energy technology specialist. Just last week, Gazprom Vice President Vitaly Markelov even accused the company of “breach of contract” on Russian television. A repaired turbine was expected back in May, but it hasn’t arrived to date, the manager said. In addition, motors from other turbines are also defective, and Siemens Energy is doing “nothing to fix these problems”.
For weeks, Siemens Energy had held back from making public statements, the location of the turbine was considered secret and not even the Federal Chancellor had seen it until Wednesday. Now the reluctance is over. “The object of desire has been here for over a week, all permits are in place. What is missing are customs documents, which only Gazprom can obtain,” Bruch clarifies. Both the CEO and the Chancellor seem visibly tense.
No wonder, since the turbine is a symbol of the power that Russia has over Germany. Putin is demonstrating this impressively. Since less natural gas has been coming through Nord Stream, gas prices on the Dutch TTF exchange have jumped from EUR 87 per megawatt hour (MWh) to a record level of EUR 205 per MWh.
And Germany, which covered more than half of its natural gas demand with raw materials from Russia until last year, is faced with the question of how it can go without.
But they prepared for this early enough, said Chancellor Scholz in Mülheim, referring to the planned liquefied natural gas terminals in the east of the country, increased imports via Belgium, the Netherlands and France and the federal government’s efforts to reduce gas consumption – through use old coal-fired power plants and energy-saving measures in business and the population.
In fact, the latest calculations by the Working Group on Energy Balances show that the measures are beginning to have an effect: the association reported that energy consumption in Germany fell by 3.5 percent in the first half of the year. Although the use of coal and oil increased in the first six months, natural gas consumption fell by 15 percent. According to experts, the main reasons for this are the mild weather on the one hand and the high prices on the other.
However, that is not enough to get Germany through the next two winters unscathed. One is still dependent on Russian natural gas. However, there are currently no indications of a turnaround in Russia. According to the Kremlin, the country officially hopes for a speedy return of the repaired gas turbine and is sticking to its version of the story.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) spoke of a “farce” in this context.
More: New calculations: The gas will probably be enough “this winter and next”