The event was marked by the welding of two pipeline segments at Portovaya Bay in Russia, where the pipeline will start before traversing the Black Sea to Greifswald, Germany. This ceremony was attended by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, EU Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger and Nord Stream consortium shareholders.

“Our pipeline will provide a direct link from here to Germany’s Baltic coast and from there on to gas consumers right across Europe,” said Nord Stream Managing Director Matthias Warnig.

Saipem’s pipe-lay vessel Castoro Sei is currently laying 2.5 km of pipeline per day. In total, the construction process will require the welding and installation of 100,000 sections of pipe, each 12 m in length. The €7.4 billion ($US10.1 billion) project will act as a major boost for Europe’s economy, with contracts awarded to engineering, construction and pipelaying firms in Germany, Russia, France and Italy. German company Europipe and Russian-owned OMK have been contracted to manufacture the pipe sections, while French firm EUPEC will be responsible for major logistic operations.

Two onshore connections from Greifswald to the south and west of Germany, with a total length of 850 km, will be built by WINGAS and E.ON Ruhrgas. A 917 km onshore connection in the Russian territory is being built by Gazprom, to connect Nord Stream to the Russian gas transmission system.

Article continues below…

The first Nord Stream pipeline will start transporting gas in 2011, and the second pipe will be completed in 2012. The twin pipelines will transport 55 Bcm of gas per year from Russia to Europe, where it will supply consumers in Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom.