Nabucco: An Additional Contribution to Improving Security of Supply in Europe
Gas infrastructure is indispensable for climate protection
July 14, 2009 | Zug | Nord Stream AG welcomes the signing of an international agreement that should pave the way for the Nabucco pipeline.
“If we want to close future gas supply gaps in Europe and reach its climate protection goals, then we must increase investments in infrastructure development,” said Matthias Warnig, Managing Director of Nord Stream AG.
Nord Stream, like Nabucco, will also make a significant contribution to countering impending undersupply. From 2012, Nord Stream will supply approximately 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas to the European gas grid with a pipeline through the Baltic Sea.
Nevertheless, additional gas import demand in Europe is expected to rise by 150 to 200 bcm annually by 2025. Among other things, this is a consequence of decreasing production at gas fields in the North Sea and it will primarily affect the gas supply of the U.K., Denmark and the Netherlands. Given this background, Nord Stream regards a variety of planned infrastructure projects as necessary to meet additional gas demand in Europe.
This long-term rise in demand should not be ignored in the current economic crisis. “Prominent institutions now see the potential for even greater use of gas in power generation, since in some regions of Europe, this energy source performs a bridging function for reaching ambitious emissions goals,” said Warnig. “If one would use gas from our pipeline to completely replace coal-fired power generation, Europe could reduce emissions by more than 120 million tonnes of CO2 per year.” This amount is almost double all of Sweden’s emissions in 2007.
