More than half of the gas in the pipes of Nord Stream 1 and 2 has already left the pipelines due to the leaks, as the head of the Danish Energy Agency announced on Wednesday. The remaining gas volume will escape by Sunday, board member Kristoffer Böttzauw said on Wednesday. Previously, there was talk of a time frame of “at least a week”.
The Danish Defense Minister Morten Bodskov said in the afternoon that an inspection of the lines would not be possible for another week or two because of the escaping gas. To what extent an earlier escape of the gas volume enables a faster inspection is so far unclear.
According to calculations by the authority, the climate impact of the gas leak corresponds to around one third of Denmark’s total climate impact in one year. A concrete health risk for the population – especially on the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm – does not exist, it said.
The leaks from the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines were discovered in international waters in the economic zones of Denmark and Sweden near Bornholm. Explosions were recorded in the region earlier in the week. The EU and NATO assume sabotage. The Danish authorities share this assessment.
