Finland Gives Final NS2 OK

Finland has consented to the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) line crossing through its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Russian gas giant Gazprom said April 12, meaning all permits for the Finland section have now been received. This is the second of five countries whose approval is needed.

Finland’s regional state administrative agency for Southern Finland issued the permit according to the Water Act. The ministry of economic affairs approved the use of the Finnish EEZ April 5.

“This is an important day for our project: following a very thorough analysis and extensive engagement the Finnish authorities have approved our detailed plans to construct and operate the 374-km Finnish section of the 1,230-km Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. We look forward to continuing the constructive co-operation with the authorities during the construction and subsequent operation phases of the project as they monitor the implementation of our plans,” Tore Granskog, permitting manager Finland for NS2 said.

The Finnish permitting procedure was initiated in autumn 2017 after the environmental impact assessment (EIA) phase, which was a pre-requisite for proceeding to the permitting phase. The EIA and statements received during the consultations are used as a basis for decision-making in permitting. NS2’s Finnish EIA report was awarded a “Good EIA Award” by the Finnish Association for Impact Assessment in March 2018 and was credited for the inclusion of an extensive amount of information about the project’s implementation alternatives and their environmental impacts, among others. During the process, extensive consultations were carried out with various stakeholders.

All the necessary permits needed for the project have also been received from Germany. The national permitting procedures in the other three countries along the route – Russia, Sweden and Denmark – are proceeding as planned, said the project company, with Russia likely to come in last. Denmark's decision will be particularly interesting as it could withhold approval for NS2, even though NS1 is already in its EEZ.

For Gazprom, NS2 makes commercial sense because the centres of gas production now are moving into the Yamal Peninsula: so far north that the new, northerly export route is a lot shorter – as well as more commercially predictable – than Ukrainian transit. The Russian company plans to spend $2bn during 2018 on NS2, which has planned 55bn m³/yr capacity. That would represent an 11% increase on what it spent last year. 

Route of Nord Stream 2

Source: Gazprom