Russia/Germany Energy and Econ Deals

Russia/Germany – Energy and Econ Deals

Summary Points

· July 18, 2011: Novatek , Russia's largest independent natural gas producer, is negotiating a cooperation deal worth 800 million euros ($1.1 billion) with German utility Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg , German paper Stuttgarter Zeitung reported.

· July 15, 2011: Russia may build a third link in the Nord Stream gas pipeline intended to bring Russian natural gas to Germany on the Baltic seabed, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday. Gazprom head Alexei Miller said last month the European market may require more Russian gas and more transportation facilities. His comments came in the wake of a decision by Germany to phase out its nuclear power plants after the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan.

· July 14, 2011: Russian gas giant Gazprom and German utilities group RWE said on Thursday they are looking to form a strategic partnership to construct jointly gas and coal power plants in Europe.

· July 8, 2011: Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom and Germany's E.ON, one of Europe's biggest purchasers of Russian gas, may develop joint projects in the electrical power industry, Gazprom said late on Thursday, without elaborating.

· July 1, 2011: Russia may look to export energy to Germany from a new generation of nuclear plants, the country's atomic energy agency told a German newspaper a day after Berlin confirmed plans to stop using atomic power by 2022.

· June 30, 2011: The Russian energy giant Gazprom plans to participate in the building of new gas power plants in Germany. Gazprom examines several ways to increase the demand for Russian gas and increase the company`s income through the sale of electricity, said Gazprom chief Alexei Miller on Thursday in Moscow in a speech to the shareholders of Russia`s energy giant.

· June 21, 2011: "All three sections of the first of Nord Stream's twin 1,224 kilometer natural gas pipelines have now been joined together underwater by hyperbaric tie-ins. The completed pipeline through the Baltic Sea will now be prepared for connection to the landfalls in Russia and Germany later in the summer," the operator said in a statement.

· June 20, 2011: Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom is looking to participate in gas power generation projects in Germany after a decision on phasing out nuclear energy, export chief Alexander Medvedev said on Monday.

· June 2, 2001: Germany plans to allocate 174 million euros in the construction of a Russian-German nuclear waste processing and storage complex near the northern Saida-Guba settlement, Murmansk region, the German head of the project, Detlef Mittan, said on Thursday.

· May 25, 2011: Germany's energy group E.On might join the South Stream pipeline project, designed to carry gas to Europe under the Black Sea, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said on Wednesday.

News Sources:

Nord Stream pipeline may be extended says Putin

12:34 15/07/2011

http://en.rian.ru/business/20110715/165209090.html

12:34 15/07/2011

Russia may build a third link in the Nord Stream gas pipeline intended to bring Russian natural gas to Germany on the Baltic seabed, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

"We will build a second stage of the ESPO (Eastern Siberia–Pacific Ocean) pipeline, we have a large pipe maintenance market," Putin told workers at the MMK steel plant, where he was on a visit.

"Moreover, there will be a second link of the Nord Stream pipeline, South Stream is next on the agenda and there maybe one more link of the Nord Stream pipeline," he said.

Currently, the $11 billion Nord Stream project includes two roughly parallel pipelines with an overall annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters. The pipeline, which will bypass Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and other transit energy states, is expected to be completed in 2012.

Gazprom head Alexei Miller said last month the European market may require more Russian gas and more transportation facilities. His comments came in the wake of a decision by Germany to phase out its nuclear power plants after the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan.

Nord Stream completes underwater work on gas pipeline

15:35 21/06/2011

http://en.rian.ru/business/20110621/164745199.html

Nord Stream AG, the operator of a gas pipeline intended to bring Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, has completed underwater work on the first pipeline, the operator said on Tuesday.

"All three sections of the first of Nord Stream's twin 1,224 kilometer natural gas pipelines have now been joined together underwater by hyperbaric tie-ins. The completed pipeline through the Baltic Sea will now be prepared for connection to the landfalls in Russia and Germany later in the summer," the operator said in a statement.

The pipes of the first line were welded together on board special pipelay vessels and laid on the seabed along a precisely defined route which had been agreed with the authorities of the five countries through whose waters the pipeline passes: Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. The two main pipelay vessels used for the first line are currently laying the second pipeline in the Gulf of Finland, the operator said.

"Work on the second pipeline is progressing at the rate of about six kilometers a day, and more than 230 kilometers have already been constructed. When both lines are fully operational by the end of 2012, the Nord Stream pipeline will be capable of transporting 55 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year to Europe," the operator said.

Russia's gas giant Gazprom, which holds 51 percent in Nord Stream, has already signed long-term contracts on gas deliveries via the Nord Stream pipeline with several European countries, including Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the UK.

Germany to allot 174 mln euros on nuclear graveyard in Murmansk

12:35 02/06/2011

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110602/164383953.html

Germany plans to allocate 174 million euros in the construction of a Russian-German nuclear waste processing and storage complex near the northern Saida-Guba settlement, Murmansk region, the German head of the project, Detlef Mittan, said on Thursday.

"The financial plans stipulate 68 million euros for 2012, 65 million euros for 2013, and 41 million euros for 2014," he said.

The total cost of the facility is estimated at 300 million euros.

Russia eyes nuclear power exports to Germany

July 1, 2011

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/01/germany-russia-nuclear-idUSLDE7600CF20110701

BERLIN, July 1 (Reuters) - Russia may look to export energy to Germany from a new generation of nuclear plants, the country's atomic energy agency told a German newspaper a day after Berlin confirmed plans to stop using atomic power by 2022.

Russia, which plans to build at least 28 new nuclear plants by 2030, could sell capacity from reactors in Kaliningrad on to the European Union, Rosatom Deputy Director General Kirill Komarov told Friday's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Part of Germany until 1945, Kaliningrad is a western Russian enclave separated from the rest of the country.

"We have our own needs in Kaliningrad, but we are also naturally looking at the energy deficit in the exclave -- in the Baltic states, in Poland and in Germany," Komarov said.

Construction of a first 1,082-megawatt unit in Kaliningrad is scheduled to finish in 2016 and a second should come on stream two years later, he said.

Germany's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved on Thursday the country's exit from nuclear energy, setting the seal on a policy U-turn by Chancellor Angela Merkel driven by Japan's Fukushima disaster.

Komarov said that while Germany could afford to phase out nuclear power, many other countries could not.

"The price for nuclear energy in Ukraine is two American cents a kilowatt, whereas energy from coal plants costs six cents and that from renewable energy 11 cents," said Komarov.

"If Ukraine were to shut down all its nuclear plants, that would be the end of the Ukrainian economy."

German industry and the country's neighbours fear Merkel's change of heart on nuclear plants will raise energy costs and imperil the power supply in Europe's biggest economy.

"Germany has the right to make this decision but it will raise the price of energy," Komarov said.

Russia Gazprom mulls gas power generation in Germany

June 20, 2011

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/20/gazprom-germany-idUSLDE75J0O720110620

(Reuters) - Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM) is looking to participate in gas power generation projects in Germany after a decision on phasing out nuclear energy, export chief Alexander Medvedev said on Monday.

"To replace atomic power generation with gas, investment needs to begin now ... We don't intend on just being a gas supplier. We have accumulated a lot of experience in processing gas into power," he told reporters during a press conference.

Gazprom, which operates power unit Gazprom Energo, is in talks on joining gas-fired power plant projects with E.ON (EONGn.DE), Wintershall (BASFn.DE) RWE (RWEG.DE) and independent producers, Medvedev added.

(Reporting by Jessica Bachman and Olesya Astakhova; writing by Jessica Bachman; editing by Lidia Kelly)

Gazprom, E.ON discuss joint power projects

08/07/2011

http://en.rian.ru/business/20110708/165088054.html

Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom and Germany's E.ON, one of Europe's biggest purchasers of Russian gas, may develop joint projects in the electrical power industry, Gazprom said late on Thursday, without elaborating.

In June, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said the company did not rule out buying stakes in German energy companies, but had received no concrete proposals.

On Thursday, Gazprom signed an agreement under which it will merge its power division with assets belonging to oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.

Vekselberg's Renova Group will transfer its stakes in four Russian power plants to Gazprom's electricity company in exchange for at least a quarter of the newly merged firm.

The government broke up state electricity monopoly UES three years ago and sold some generators to Russian businessmen and foreign companies including E.ON.

Gazprom has been gradually consolidating various power assets over the past year, including a recent merger between OGK-2 and OGK-6.

InterRAO, a state-controlled electricity trader created during privatization, has also been buying power assets to bring more of the industry under state control.

Germany's E.On might join South Stream - Gazprom CEO

25/05/2011

http://en.rian.ru/business/20110525/164229721.html

Germany's energy group E.On might join the South Stream pipeline project, designed to carry gas to Europe under the Black Sea, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said on Wednesday.

"...such a big project can not stay unnoticed by such a big company. It is possible that one more participant might join the project," Miller said.

The $21.5 billion pipeline, which will transport up to 63 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe, is being developed by Italy's Eni and Russian gas giant Gazprom, which produces and transports the blue fuel. French EdF and Germany's Wintershall will also participate in the project, with 10 and 15 percent of shares, respectively.

Russia plans to launch the pipeline, which will transport up to 63 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe, in 2015 to diversify its gas supplies. The underwater portion of the pipeline will go through Turkey's territorial waters.

Novatek mulls 800 mln eur pact with EnBW-report

Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:06am GMT

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFLDE76H0GM20110718

FRANKFURT, July 18 (Reuters) - Novatek , Russia's largest independent natural gas producer, is negotiating a cooperation deal worth 800 million euros ($1.1 billion) with German utility Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg , German paper Stuttgarter Zeitung reported.

The two companies are also discussing founding a joint company, or Novatek might take a stake in a unit of EnBW, the newspaper reported, citing unidentified people within EnBW.

Larger German competitor RWE said last week it was in exclusive negotiations with Russia's Gazprom over forms of cooperation.

EnBW declined comment. (Writing by Peter Dinkloh; Editing by David Holmes)

($1=.7070 Euro)

Gazprom, RWE eye power plant joint venture

July 14, 2011
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/gazprom-rwe-announce-power-plant-joint-venture-plans-112051890.html
Russian gas giant Gazprom and German utilities group RWE said on Thursday they are looking to form a strategic partnership to construct jointly gas and coal power plants in Europe.
"The power industry is one of the priorities of Gazprom in Europe," Gazprom's chief executive officer Alexei Miller said in a statement after inking with RWE boss Juergen Grossmann a provisional agreement in Rome.
"The signed memorandum provides RWE with exclusive rights for negotiations with Gazprom on the implementation of energy projects in Germany, UK and the Benelux countries for a period of three months," Miller said.
"This MoU (memorandum of understanding), when put into commercial reality, could secure a safe and competitive natural gas supply to RWE," Grossmann said.
"It can furthermore provide for potential partnerships in coal and gas fired power plants in and outside of Germany and thus lead to mutually fruitful common growth opportunities," he said.
The announcement comes ahead of talks in Hanover, northern Germany on Monday and Tuesday between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Commercial ties between the two counties have grown strongly in recent years despite criticism of Russia's human rights record and accusations that Moscow uses state-controlled Gazprom for political purposes.

Gazprom to invest in new gas power plants in Germany - most attractive market

[30.06.11]
http://russia-media.ru/gazprom/morenews.php?iditem=249
http://russia-media.ru/gazprom/images/pixel.gif
The Russian energy giant Gazprom plans to participate in the building of new gas power plants in Germany. Gazprom examines several ways to increase the demand for Russian gas and increase the company`s income through the sale of electricity, said Gazprom chief Alexei Miller on Thursday in Moscow in a speech to the shareholders of Russia`s energy giant.
He stressed that Germany is on the background of the planned closure of its nuclear power plants "the most attractive market". After the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, there has been a significant movement in the energy market, he said.
On Thursday, the German Bundestag with an overwhelming majority voted to close down all nuclear power plants by 2022. 8 nuclear power plants are already shut down temporarily and will after the parliamentary decision not be started up again. The remaining nine plants are to be turned off during the next 10 years.
According to Miller, the group will take part in Germany in projects to build gas power plants which partially are to replace the 17 nuclear power plants which are already shut down or will be switched of. Gazprom has not only gas but also the experience which is needed to make these projects to a success, said Miller.
According to Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kuprianov, the group is already "in talks" with potential German partners.
"This confirms again that the likelihood that the Shtokman project in the Barents Sea will be realized becomes larger and larger," says FLAIT Group - Director Ulrich Kreuzenbeck in Murmansk. He also tells that he can observe an increasing meeting activity in Murmansk hotels in connection with the Shtokman project. (Source: AFP, russland.RU – Internetzeitung)