Europe may face gas crisis soon, all thanks to stand-off over turbines' repairs. Details here

The return of a turbine has led to a major stand-off, which may lead to gas crisis in Europe. Russia has been saying that it neededs documentation to confirm that the equipment was not subject to the sanctions imposed by the West.

Moscow has been holding back gas supplies to Europe, which does not seem to be getting resolved any time sooner.

The maintenance in Canada on the turbine was carried out by Germany's Siemens Energy for the key Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. The firm said on Thursday that it was ready to be returned at the earliest.


But Gazprom, which is the Russian gas exporter, has reiterated that the equipment's shipment to Russia is getting prevented due to the sanctions imposed by Canada, the European Union and Britain.

Three other turbines also need major repairs, it added. So, only one of six main gas turbines is working at the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. There is also a spare one for emergencies. It can only pump around 33 million cubic meters of gas per day, which is only a fifth of capacity, the firm said in a statement.

During a conference call with the media, Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, disclosed that Siemens Energy's UK branch has been fixing the turbine.

With the Nord Stream 1 pipeline now functioning at less than a fifth of its full capability, Gazprom has been reducing gas flows to Germany. The company justifies this action by blaming the problem on sanctions imposed and the slow arrival of a gas turbine for a compressor station from Canada. In contrast, the German government has claimed that there is no technical premise for restricting the flow and that Russia is instead utilising it as a tool against the West.

Gazprom blamed the imposed sanctions for the delay
The biggest energy company in Russia, Gazprom, stated on Wednesday that due to the imposed sanctions on Moscow, it was impossible to supply a turbine that would have kept gas flowing through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Europe.

The announcement presents the risk of raising tensions in European nations that feel Moscow is seeking a reason to put off the turbines' return to Russia and scale back its gas supplies.

Earlier on Wednesday, Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, indicated that it would be possible to continue nuclear stations operating while accusing Russia of delaying the delivery of the crucial turbine to limit fuel supplies to Europe.