Scholz to visit Nord Stream 1 gas turbine in Germany

A senior manager at Russian gas giant Gazprom said last week that delivery of the turbine to Germany from Canada after the maintenance work had been completed was not in line with the contract.

A Nord Stream 1 gas turbine that has become the focus of a deepening energy row with Russia is in Germany after undergoing maintenance in Canada, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit it on Wednesday, Siemens Energy said.

Russia has cited problems with the turbine as the reason for cutting gas supply via Nord Stream 1 - its main gas link to Europe. Siemens Energy said Scholz would visit its site at Muelheim an der Ruhr, in northwestern Germany, on Wednesday.

"He (Scholz) will, together with our CEO Christian Bruch, take a look at the turbine serviced in Canada for the Nordstream 1 gas pipeline, which is ready for onward transport to Russia," Siemens Energy said in an invitation to the event. A senior manager at Russian gas giant Gazprom said last week that delivery of the turbine to Germany from Canada after the maintenance work had been completed was not in line with the contract. Its exact whereabouts since then had been unclear.

The European Union disputes arguments by Russia and Gazprom that turbine problems are to blame for the sharp drop in supply through the pipeline that links Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The shortfall has raised the risk of shortages and gas rationing in Europe this winter.