Russia’s Gazprom on Monday announced the shutdown of another turbine in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany, reducing gas flows to one-fifth of normal capacity.
The comes amid heightened tension as the West and Russia trade economic blows in retaliation for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which transports gas from Russia to Germany, has been operating significantly below capacity for weeks and was shut down entirely earlier this month for a 10-day maintenance period.
The Kremlin blames the gas outage on maintenance problems and the effects of Western sanctions, but the European Union accuses Russia of using energy as a form of blackmail.
Russia supplied 40% of Europe’s gas in the previous year, and the EU has charged Russia with using energy as a weapon.
European politicians have repeatedly warned that Russia could cut off gas flows this winter, sending Germany into recession and causing soaring prices for consumers already dealing with higher food and energy prices. Germany was forced to bail out Uniper, its largest Russian gas importer, last week.
The European Commission had earlier urged nations to reduce their gas consumption by 15% over the next seven months after Russia threatened to reduce or stop all supplies.
Wholesale gas prices have skyrocketed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, putting pressure on consumer energy bills.
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