Sweden gives go-ahead for criticized gas pipeline
Sweden’s government has authorized Russia's Nord Stream gas pipeline to pass under its waters.
| Related news: • Finland may OK Nord Stream pipeline • Denmark okays Russian gas pipeline • “Sweden should support Nord Stream” • “Russian gas a security threat to Europe” |
Minister for the Environment Andreas Carlgren said Thursday the government has given go-ahead for Nord Stream AG to lay two natural gas pipelines on the continental shelf within Sweden's exclusive economic zone in the Baltic Sea.
Nord Stream AG is a partnership between Russian state-run energy giant Gazprom and Germany's E.On Ruhrgas and BASF-Wintershall. The 1,220-kilometre (760-mile) pipeline needs the green light from Finland, Sweden and Denmark before building can begin as it will run close to their Baltic coastlines.
Also the Finnish government said Thursday it "granted consent for Nord Stream AG's plan to construct an offshore natural gas pipeline system that would traverse the Baltic Sea." Two weeks ago the Danes said okay to the project, leaving Russia and Germany the only countries that still need to officially approve the project.
The gas pipeline has been under fire as some countries bordering the Baltic Sea have worried that the pipeline would pose a risk to the environment.
"The government has set high demands to ensure that the sensitive environment in the Baltic Sea is not threatened. The company has been required to provide a series of supplementary examinations and has satisfied each stage of the deliberation process," Andreas Carlgren said in a statement.
Some 80 percent of all Russian gas bound for Europe travels currently through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine. Nord Stream would transport up to 55 billion cubic metres of gas each year. This would be enough to supply more than 25 million households, according to the consortium's website.
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Last Updated (Thursday, 05 November 2009 14:51)
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