1997–present
The Nord Stream pipeline project began in 1997, when Gazprom and Finnish oil company Neste formed the joint company North Transgas Oy for the construction and operation of a gas pipeline from Russia to northern Germany across the Baltic Sea. North Transgas Oy cooperated with the German gas company Ruhrgas. A route survey was done in the exclusive economic zones of Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany, and a feasibility study of the pipeline was conducted in 1998. Several routes were considered, including those with onshore segments through Finland and Sweden.
In April 2001, Gazprom, Fortum, Ruhrgas, and Wintershall adopted a statement regarding a joint feasibility study for the construction of the pipeline, and in November 2002, the Management Committee of Gazprom approved a schedule of project implementation.
In May 2005, Fortum withdrew from the project and sold its stake in North Transgas to Gazprom. As a result, Gazprom became the only shareholder of North Transgas Oy.
In September 2005, Gazprom, BASF, and E.ON signed a basic agreement on the construction of a North European gas pipeline. In November 2005, the North European Gas Pipeline Company (later Nord Stream AG) was incorporated in Zug, Switzerland. In December 2005, Gazprom started construction of the Russian onshore segment of the Nord Stream project, in order to connect Nord Stream with the wider Russian natural gas pipeline system. Specifically, the Gryazovets–Vyborg gas pipeline was built in Babayevo, Vologda Oblast, connecting Nord Stream to the Northern Lights Pipeline network. The construction was completed in 2010.
In October 2006, the pipeline and the operating company were officially renamed Nord Stream AG. All information related to the pipeline project, including results of the seabed survey of 1998, was transferred from North Transgas to Nord Stream AG. In November 2006, North Transgas was officially dissolved.
The environmental impact assessment started in November 2006, when notifications were sent to Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany as parties of origin (countries whose exclusive economic zones or territorial waters the pipeline was planned to pass through), and Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia as affected parties. The final report on transboundary environmental impact assessment was delivered in March 2009.
The gas systems operated by Finland's Gasum are connected to Nord Stream via a branch pipeline in Karelia.
In March 2007, Nord Stream AG hired Italian company Snamprogetti, a subsidiary of Saipem, for detailed design engineering of the pipeline. A letter of intent for construction works was signed with Saipem in September 2007 and the contract was concluded in June 2008. In September 2007, the pipe supply contracts were awarded to pipe producers EUROPIPE and OMK. In February 2008, the concrete weight coating and logistics services agreements were awarded to EUPEC PipeCoatings S.A.
In December 2008, Rolls-Royce Holdings was awarded a contract to supply turbines for the compressor. In January 2009, Dutch Royal Boskalis and Danish Dredging Contractor Rohde Nielsen A/S were awarded a joint venture seabed dredging contract. The supply contracts for the second line were awarded to OMK, Europipe, and Sumitomo Heavy Industries in January 2010.
The agreement to add Gasunie to the consortium as the fourth partner was signed in November 2007. In June 2008, Gasunie was included in the register of shareholders. In March 2010, French energy company GDF Suez signed with Gazprom a memorandum of understanding to acquire 9% stake in the project. The transaction was closed in July 2010.
In August 2008, Nord Stream AG hired former Finnish prime minister Paavo Lipponen as a consultant to help speed up the application process in Finland and to serve as a link between Nord Stream and Finnish authorities.
In December 2007, Nord Stream AG submitted application documents to the Swedish government for the pipeline construction in the Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone. In February 2008, the Swedish government rejected the consortium's application, which it had found incomplete. A new application was filed later. In October 2009, Nord Stream received a construction permit to build the pipeline in Danish waters. In November 2009, the Swedish and Finnish authorities permitted the laying of the pipeline in their exclusive economic zones. In February 2010, the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland issued the final environmental permit allowing construction of the Finnish section of the pipeline.
Construction of the Portovaya compressor station in Vyborg, near the Gulf of Finland, began in January 2010.
The first pipe of the pipeline was laid in April 2010 in the Swedish exclusive economic zone by the Castoro Sei vessel, which continued to lay most of the distance. The Castoro 10 performed pipe work near Germany, and Solitaire was pipe-laying near Finland. Construction of the pipeline was officially launched in April 2010 at Portovaya Bay.
The first pipe was completed in May 2011. Underwater works were completed in June 2011. In August 2011, Nord Stream was connected to the German OPAL pipeline, with the first gas delivery pumped in September 2011. Construction of the second pipe was completed in August 2012 and inaugurated in October 2012.
The pipeline was officially inaugurated in November 2011 by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, French Prime Minister François Fillon, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at a ceremony held in Lubmin.
During a routine annual checkup in November 2015, a small, remotely operated armed mine-disposal vehicle was found lying near the pipeline near the Öland island in the Baltic Sea. As the craft lay in Swedish territorial waters, Nord Stream requested the Swedish Navy to remove it.
Although the nominal capacity of the pipeline is 55 billion cubic metres per annum (1.9 trillion cubic feet per annum), it transported 59.2 billion cubic metres (2.09 trillion cubic feet) in 2021.
On 25 July 2022, Gazprom announced it would reduce gas flows to Germany to 20% of the maximum capacity, or 50% of the current throughput. The company shut down the pipeline for 10 days because of maintenance and claimed the reduction was due to a repaired turbine in Montréal, Canada, that could not be delivered due to sanctions against Russia. The German government denied this claim and believed there was no reason for reducing the flow. Meanwhile, during a press conference in Tehran, Putin said that these flows could be increased again if Russia receives more turbines from the manufacturer.
On 31 August 2022, Gazprom halted any gas delivery through Nord Stream 1 for three days, officially because of maintenance. On 2 September 2022, the company announced that natural gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would remain shut off indefinitely until the main gas turbine at the Portovaya compressor station near St Petersburg was fixed due to an engine oil leak. Gazprom justified this by claiming that European Union sanctions against Russia had resulted in technical problems, preventing it from providing the full volume of contracted gas through the pipeline; Siemens Energy, which maintains the turbine, rejected this and stated that there are no legal obstacles to its provision of maintenance for the pipeline.
