The role of Azerbaijan in Europe's energy security

An article in Foreign Policy of may 2018 but still an interesting read on Azerbaijan's important contribution to energy security. The country's geographical situation makes it favourable for LNG terminals in Georgia:

"Russia has a track record of using energy as a tool of aggression, and each barrel of oil and cubic meter of gas that Europe can buy from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, or Turkmenistan is one less that it must depend on from Russia. Currently, there are three major oil and gas pipelines in the region, which bypass Russia and Iran and run through the 60-mile-wide Ganja Gap: the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which runs from Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey and then to the outside world through the Mediterranean; the Baku-Supsa pipeline, which carries oil from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea and then to the outside world; and the South Caucasus pipeline, which runs from Azerbaijan to Turkey, and which will soon link up with the proposed Southern Gas Corridor to deliver gas to Italy and then to the rest of Europe."

(...)

"Indeed, given the strength of Moscow’s ties to Yerevan, the United States and Europe should prioritize relations with Baku as the critical trade, energy, and economic link between the east and west of the Eurasian landmass. The West should strive for cordial relations with Armenia, but the United States needs to be mindful and realistic when setting its strategic priorities in the region. Armenia is largely a lost cause; Azerbaijan, even with all its flaws, is a better bet."

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/05/28/why-the-west-needs-azerbaijan/

Experts: wind energy in Germany useless and expensive

Three physics professors of the university of Heidelberg have calculated that the share of wind (combined with solar) represents only 3,1% of the energy supply in Germany.
However from Januar to March 2019 deficiency compensation of 364 Million Euro had to be paid to operators of wind power stations for energy that couldn't be fed into the grid due to saturation.
The german EEG reallocation charge appears more and more like a wrong track for consumers who have to carry this burden.

https://www.physi.uni-heidelberg.de/~dubbers/energiewende/text.pdf 

Nord Stream 2 pipeline project under pressure from different actors

The controversial Gazprom-dominated pipeline project Nord Stream 2 faces hardship on the final sprint before completion.

Denmark has denied the route through its territorial waters and also rejects a permission of an alternative route through the exclusive economic zone.

The swiss subsidiary of  Nord Stream 2 has also filed a lawsuit against provisions of EU directive 2009/73/EC concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas because it regards some previsions as discriminatory, for instance the incompatibility of the status of pipeline-operator and gas supplier.
 The outcome of the lawsuit is yet to be known.

Lastly the US Senate committee on foreign relations has drafted a bill, the Protect European Energy Security Act, that would allow sanctions  against swiss and italian companies providing ships for the underwater construction works of the pipeline.

Those developments make the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline questionable. 

https://www.bild.de/bild-plus/politik/ausland/politik-ausland/nord-stream-2-warum-es-fuer-putins-neue-ostsee-pipeline-noch-richtig-eng-wird-63692948,view=conversionToLogin.bild.html 

Stoppt Dänemark "Nordstream 2"?

Die Fertigstellung der Unterwasserpipeline „Nordstream 2“ ist bereits weit vorangeschritten, dennoch könnte die unnachgiebige Haltung der dänischen Regierung das Projekt gefährden oder zumindest verzögern.

Dänemark, das dem Pipelineprojekt ablehnend gegenübersteht, hat bereits einen Streckenverlauf abgelehnt, der durch die Gewässer des dänischen Staatsgebiets verlief.

Ein alternativer Streckenverlauf, der zwischen Bornholm und polnischem Staatsgebiet verlaufen sollte, wurde vorgelegt. Doch auch diesen Verlauf könnte Dänemark ablehnen, wenn es eine Beeinträchtigung seiner Sicherheitsbelange geltende macht.

A number of informed sources have reported that it is highly likely that Denmark will ask Nord Stream 2 to submit a third application to lay the pipeline between Poland and Bornholm, which will cause further delays. Denmark has long been opposed to the Russian gas company’s pipeline project. Danish opposition has already led to downtime and $114 million in unforeseen costs.

https://uawire.org/denmark-refuses-to-authorize-nord-stream-2

Nord Stream 2 harms cohesion between EU member states

While it loves to rant about Trump’s disruptive and confrontational behaviour, the German government hardly behaves any differently when its interests are at stake.

From the point of view of the European Council on Foreign Relations underwater pipeline Nord Stream 2 drives a wedge between the EU member state with consequences not yet in sight.


https://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_negative_energy_berlins_trumpian_turn_on_nord_stream_2

Deutsch-französische Misshelligkeiten um Nord Stream 2

Während die Fertigstellung der umstrittenen Unterwasserpipeline "Nordstream 2" nunmehr Kurs auf die Zielgerade nimmt, werden von Deutschlands europäischen Nachbarn Einwände angemeldet.

Die baltischen Staaten, aber auch Polen und vor allem die Ukraine haben das Projekt, mit dem Deutschland jährlich 55 Milliarden Kubikmeter Gas – zusätzlich zu den bisher 51 Milliarden Kubikmetern, die durch "Nordstream 1" fließen – direkt aus Russland importieren will, mit großer Skepsis betrachtet, da es ihre Energie- und Sicherheitsinteressen beeinträchtigt.

Der Energieexperte Wojciech Jakóbik skizzierte gegenüber dem Verfasser die lagerübergreifend vorherrschende Position in Polen, indem er "Nordstream 2" als politische und ökonomische Bedrohung. In politischer Hinsicht führt sie zur Spaltung Europas und könnte zudem ein Erpressungspotential gegenüber der Ukraine bedeuten. Ökonomisch führt die Pipeline dazu, dass die Nachfrage aus einer dominierenden Quelle befriedigt wird, was den Markt verzerrt und ihm schadet.