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New Energy World magazine logo
New Energy World magazine logo
ISSN 2753-7757 (Online)

The EU faces an energy catastrophe if Russian supplies are cut

17/8/2022

6 min read

Pipelines in a gas compression station Photo: Shutterstock
In early August, Nord Stream’s daily flow was under 20% of its maximum capacity

Photo: Shutterstock

Selwyn Parker looks at the likely outcomes of Russia maintaining its stranglehold on European gas supplies this winter.

When Nord Stream 1, Europe’s most crucial gas artery, started pumping once again on 21 July 2022 after ‘routine maintenance,’ the literally burning issue was how much gas Russia would send through. Predictably, the most worried countries were those most dependent on Russian gas, notably Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

 

And they were sorely disappointed. In early August the daily flow was down to just under 20% of Nord Stream’s maximum capacity of 165mn m3/d.

 

It gets worse. At 30mn m3/d the flows were roughly 40% of the previous low of 78mn m3/d recorded on 16 July. Currently, only one of the pipeline’s eight turbines is operating, according to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES).

 

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