OPAL: Germany loses appeal; possible repercussions on Nord Stream 2

 As well known, Germany has lodged an appeal against the EUGC decision concerning the quantity of gas passed through the OPAL pipeline. The ECJ rejected this appeal

Handelsblatt writes:

In the dispute over the expansion of Russian gas supplies, Germany suffered a defeat before the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In a judgment published on Thursday, the ECJ rejected Germany's appeal against a decision by the EU court. Specifically, it is about larger delivery volumes through the Opal pipeline, an extension of the first Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea, which has been in operation since 2011 and through which Russian gas is transported to Europe (Case C-848/19).

Poland had filed a lawsuit against the larger delivery quantities before the General Court of the European Union (EU-G), arguing that they endangered the country's security of supply and violated the principle of energy solidarity. The court upheld the action, whereupon Germany appealed to the ECJ, which has now been rejected.

In September 2019, Poland had a decision by the EU Commission stopped at first instance, which allowed the Russian Gazprom group to make greater use of the Opal pipeline (case T-883/16). Gazprom was originally only allowed to use half the line capacity in order not to put other suppliers at a disadvantage. With a resolution from 2016, the EU Commission allowed Gazprom to significantly increase delivery volumes at the request of the Federal Network Agency. The ECJ has now confirmed that this decision was rightly declared null and void by the EU-G.

A previously published opinion by the Court of Justice stated that Germany "essentially asserts that energy solidarity is merely a political term and not a legal criterion". Accordingly, no direct rights and obligations could be derived from it.

The supreme court of the EU is now contradicting this. Since the principle of solidarity underlies all the objectives of the Union's energy policy, it cannot be assumed that it does not produce any binding legal effects. The principle includes rights and obligations for EU countries.

Lebanon: Karpower shuts down power supply

A Turkish company that provides electricity to Lebanon from two power barges shut down its operations on Friday over delayed payments and the threat of legal action against its vessels. The move is expected to increase outages in the crisis-hit Mediterranean country.

The company Karpowership has been threatening to shut down its power supply to Lebanon for weeks and said it took the decision on Friday because of 18 months of overdue payments in excess of $100 million. However, the decision comes after a Lebanese prosecutor last week threatened to seize the ships, pending an investigation into corruption and graft allegations. The company has called those accusations baseless.

The company provides around 370 megawatts — about a quarter of Lebanon’s supply - through two electricity barges that have been anchored off the Lebanese coast since 2013. The company’s contract expires in September.

“For 18 months, we have been exceedingly flexible with the (Lebanese) state, continually supplying power without payment or a payment plan, because the country was already facing very hard times,” the Karpowership statement said. 

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

https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-lebanon-beirut-business-095e5e50b70d645f8f59da82e4bf3a8d

Nord Stream 2: possible legal obstacles after completion

 In a very interesting paper Prof. Alan Riley explains that the contentious pipeline "Nord Stream 2" might not be operational even after constructional completion. The project may face legal counteraction.

Quote:

"However, even if a deal is not possible and Nord Stream 2 is technically completed despite the threat of US sanctions, it is far from clear that the pipeline can enter into operation any time soon. There is the prospect of a significant EU law battle at least over the application of the liberalization provisions of the Gas Directive 2009"

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

https://huri.harvard.edu/files/huri/files/riley_-_nord_stream_2.pdf?m=1618864282

Nuclear waste: France and Germany find agreement on taking back containers

 Source: WELT

Germany has agreed with France on a new way to take back castors containing highly radioactive nuclear waste. According to a joint information paper from the Federal Ministry of Economics and the Federal Environment Ministry, three to five containers with highly radioactive nuclear waste are to be returned from La Hague, France, to the Philippsburg interim storage facility in Baden-Württemberg by 2024. This would complete the return of all nuclear waste that Germany has to take back from France. According to the ministries, the agreement should be decided in plenary this Thursday.

The original plan provided for the return of 157 containers with medium-level radioactive material from the French plant in La Hague. Five castor casks with medium-level radioactive waste were originally intended to be returned to the Philippsburg interim storage facility and 152 casks with medium-level metal residues from refurbished fuel assemblies to the Ahaus interim storage facility in North Rhine-Westphalia.

EU: Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism will hit Russia and Turkey

 German newspaper WELT reports on the planned green house gas tariffs on goods from non-EU-member states:

Climate protection is currently well received by voters; At the geopolitical level, however, ambitious climate policy doesn't just make friends. This applies above all to the currently discussed climate tariff for products that are produced in countries with less stringent climate regulations than Europe.

The so-called CO2 border adjustment is intended to make imported products that are more harmful to the climate overseas than in Europe more expensive at the borders of the EU. The climate protection wall around the continent could thus ensure that European producers, with their higher energy costs, can remain competitive on their home market. Stricter climate rules and rising energy prices should be possible without endangering jobs, for example in the energy-intensive steel industry.

Nord Stream 2: Putin's bizarre statements at the SPIEF

 German newspaper BILD has compiled to most bizarre assertions of Putin at the SPIEF:

Lies have short legs - especially when you are the president of the largest country in the world and listen carefully to a critic from near and far.

At the Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, Russia's ruler Vladimir Putin gave his eagerly awaited speech on Friday. Particularly important from a German point of view: its inlets to the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2 - and the associated dwindling gas flows through Ukraine.

What Putin delivered was a mixture of half-truths and announcements that exposed his earlier promises and treaty signings as lies. Also and especially to Germany and Chancellor Angela Merkel personally, whose word supposedly carries so much weight with Russia's autocratic leader.

Claim 1: Nord Stream 2 tube completed

Putin's claim that the first strand of Nord Stream 2 was as good as finished caused the greatest excitement. Putin proudly announced: "Two and a half hours ago the laying of the first pipeline of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was successfully completed."

Now all that remains to be done is to “lift and weld parts of the pipe on the Russian side. That is all, ”said Putin.

EU: Commission approves German support for cogenerated electricity

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, the prolongation and modification of an existing German scheme to support the production of electricity from new, modernised and retrofitted highly efficient cogeneration (‘CHP') plants (except coal and lignite-fired CHP). The scheme (‘Kraft-Wärme-Kopplungsgesetz' – ‘KWKG 2020'), which is approved until 2026, will further promote energy efficiency, lead to a better integration of cogenerated power into the German electricity market and lower CO2 emissions, without unduly distorting competition.

Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “The German scheme will promote energy efficiency and contribute to further reductions in CO2 emissions, in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal. Compared to the existing German scheme to support cogenerated electricity, the new scheme introduces new features which aim at further ensuring the competitiveness of the tenders through which the support will be granted, as well as at keeping electricity prices low for consumers and incentivising cogeneration plants to operate at times of higher electricity demand, that is when it's needed the most.”

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

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_2842