Gas deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline have been announced for Thursday after the end of routine maintenance. This emerges from preliminary data from the network operator Gascade on Wednesday afternoon. Gascade operates the two receiving points of Nord Stream 1 in Lubmin in western Pomerania. According to the Gascade website, gas deliveries are reserved for both points.

According to the head of the Federal Network Agency, the Russian gas company Gazprom has reduced the gas delivery volume announced for Thursday via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. According to the announcements, around 530 gigawatt hours would now be delivered on Thursday, Klaus Müller tweeted on Wednesday evening. According to him, that would be about 30 percent occupancy. Further changes are possible. Before the scheduled maintenance on the pipeline ended on Thursday, it was about 40 percent utilized.

Previously, Müller had mentioned 800 gigawatt hours on Twitter and referred to registrations with transport network operators – so-called nominations. That would have equated to a higher utilization than before the maintenance. However, this would also have used less than 50 percent of the pipeline. Nominations serve network operators to guarantee the transport and can change until shortly before the start of delivery. According to Müller, Gazprom has now made such a re-nomination.

A Gascade spokeswoman had previously explained that these reservations – so-called nominations – are a prerequisite for the transport of significant quantities. However, the registrations can still change until shortly before the actual delivery.

Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin had already indicated deliveries after the maintenance on Wednesday night. “Gazprom fulfills its obligations, has always fulfilled them and is willing to continue to fulfill all its obligations,” Russian news agency Interfax quoted Putin as saying.

During the past week and a half, no gas had been delivered to Germany through the last most important connection for Russian natural gas imports due to an annual routine maintenance. The federal government had feared that Putin could leave the gas tap closed afterwards. After the Russian attack on Ukraine, the West imposed sanctions on Russia. Russia, in turn, has throttled gas supplies to European countries or stopped them altogether.

The now noted gas deliveries at least indicate that gas is flowing again at all. However, the data now available do not reveal with certainty whether and how much gas will actually come from Thursday. It can be renominated until shortly before the actual start of delivery – this means that the information can be changed.

Even before the maintenance of Nord Stream 1 began, the Russian state-owned company Gazprom had reduced deliveries through the more than 1,200-kilometer pipeline to 40 percent, citing the lack of a turbine as the reason. Putin recently warned of a further reduction in the delivery volume if Russia does not receive the turbine repaired in Canada. She was held back for a long time because of Western sanctions. Canada recently decided to hand over the turbine to Germany. The federal government sees the reference to the turbine as a pretext.

Putin also revived the largely parallel Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which has been completed but is not in operation. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany suspended the approval process for operating the line. Putin has said in the past that operating Nord Stream 2 could lower gas prices.