Gas, what do we know about the Balticconnector sabotage
Finland has denounced "external activities" responsible for sabotaging the Balticconnector gas pipeline with Estonia. All the details
A new mystery involving a gas pipeline is stirring the waters of the Baltic Sea: it could be a new Nord Stream case , even if the authorities, while raising doubts of sabotage, for the moment are still keeping the suspicions in the drawer. On Sunday 8 September, in the morning, the Finnish authorities closed the valves of the Balticconnector gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia. Reason: a leak and the fear that the gas leak might not be stopped.
Now comes the first official confirmations on the hypothesis of sabotage. They were given by the prime minister himself, Petteri Orpo, in a hastily organized press conference for "important communications on the country's security".
“EXTERNAL ACTIVITIES”
The Finnish government denounces "external activities" as the probable cause of the damage not only to the Balticconnector underwater gas pipeline, but also to a telecommunications cable that until now had remained off the radar. Both connect Finland and Estonia. Informing the national parliament, Orpo then explained that the gas pipeline is damaged in Finnish economic waters, while the interruption of the communication cable probably took place in Estonia's exclusive economic zone. The prime minister added that, based on what authorities know, the leak "was not the result of normal use or a change in pressure."
Investigators have also identified the location of the interruption, which will speed up the investigation into what appears to be a new mystery on the Baltic gas pipelines. “It is likely that the damage to both the gas pipeline and the communication cable is the result of external activities,” certified the President of the Republic Sauli Niinisto in a note. “I spoke about it with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg,” added Niinisto, “NATO is ready to provide assistance in the investigation.” This is also an indicative element of suspicions about a political act.
WHO BENEFITS FROM IT?
Who benefits from it? For now, no official information has been released. Except that of the tabloid newspaper Iltalehti, which quotes a foreign and security policy source as saying that the Finnish government and defense forces suspect Russia of attacking the pipeline.
EVERYTHING ABOUT BALTICCONNECTOR
The Balticconnector is 77 kilometers long and its closure risks causing supply problems for the Baltic region on the eve of winter. The Finnish operator Gasgrid has in fact said that it could take months or even longer to repair it. This pipeline can export gas in both directions, depending on where demand is greatest. At the time of the accident it was transporting a volume of around 30 GWh per day of gas from Finland to Estonia, Gasgrid said. Both Gasgrid and the Estonian operator Elering have however reassured that consumers in their respective countries continue to receive gas from other sources.
On the investigation front, things are tight in Helsinki, but something transpires away from the spotlight. “The drop in pressure in the pipeline was quite rapid, which would indicate that this is not a minor breach. But the cause remains unclear,” a Baltic energy official familiar with the situation told Reuters on request of anonymity. And even the Bloomberg agency, through its own sources, relaunches the rumor of sabotage. “The investigation into a leak from the undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia is being conducted under the assumption that it was a deliberate act of destruction, according to people familiar with the matter,” Bloomberg wrote.
The pipeline between Inkoo in Finland and Paldiski in Estonia crosses the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea that extends eastward into Russian waters and ends in the port of St. Petersburg. Russia cut gas supplies to Finland in May 2022, about a week after the Nordic country said it would apply for NATO membership in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The region is now increasingly dependent on liquefied natural gas flows from the United States.
THE VULNERABILITY OF UNDERWATER INFRASTRUCTURES
The episode and subsequent investigations have revived concerns about the vulnerability of underwater infrastructure , already high following explosions on nearby Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany last year. Since then, in response, European countries have stepped up defense of infrastructure. NATO members have increased monitoring of energy resources using satellites, planes, ships and submarines, with sites in the North Sea and Baltic Sea considered among the most sensitive. But the fear is that this new episode highlights how there are still many holes in the surveillance network.
IS EUROPE AT GAS RISK?
“When it comes to gas, Europe is preparing for a safe winter. However, this depends on the integrity of its pipeline and LNG infrastructure,” Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels, said on social media platform X. “Sabotage or disruption could have serious consequences.” It is the same position expressed by Klaus Müller, director of the German Bundesnetzagentur, the Federal Network Agency: with the storage facilities already filled to over 97%, a quiet winter can be expected, also because this year many European countries – Germany among these – it can count on the new regasification terminals, built in record time on the northern coasts. But in addition to the hope of a not too harsh winter, we must hope that the international situation does not worsen (and the new fire in the Middle East does not bode well), that Russia does not completely cut off supplies to those countries that still receive gas and oil from Moscow and that existing energy infrastructure is preserved. Even in the latter case, if sabotage at the Balticconnector were confirmed, it would be a further stability factor called into question.
The Balticconnector went into operation just over three years ago and connects the new LNG import terminal in Finland with Estonia. The Baltics and Finland reduced their dependence on Russian gas even before cutting imports from their eastern neighbor, and are now increasingly dependent on liquefied natural gas, mainly from the United States.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/sabotaggio-balticconnector-gas-finlandia-estonia/ on Wed, 11 Oct 2023 05:26:40 +0000.