Nord Stream AG project manager for Germany Dr. Georg Nowack said that “This construction phase was important and exciting for us, not just from a technological point of view. It also has a symbolic significance, as the Nord Stream Pipeline has now reached the European mainland for the first time and, moreover here in Lubmin, the point where WINGAS is planning and already building the natural gas transfer station and the OPAL and NEL onshore pipelines.”

Work on the Nord Stream Pipeline has been underway on the pipelay vessel Castoro Dieci, which is anchored around 1 km from the landing point, to weld together the approximately 12 m long pipes to form the first 1,000 km pipeline since 28 June 2010.

The pipeline was pulled ashore with the aid of a heavy-duty draw winch mounted on land. The winch weighs 100 t and for this project it is working with its maximum traction force of approximately 500 t.

The 1,224 km Nord Stream Gas Pipeline will transport 55 Bcm/a of gas from Russia to Germany, where it will join the European energy grid. The first Nord Stream pipeline will start transporting gas in 2011, and the second pipe will be completed in 2012. The second pipeline is scheduled to reach land in mid-July.

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With a diameter of 1.4 m, OPAL is the largest natural gas pipeline to be built in Europe. Construction work on the OPAL project has been underway since September 2009 and is currently proceeding at around 2,500 m/d.

“We are very satisfied with this and we are well on schedule,” OPAL Project Manager at WINGAS Hans-Georg Egelkamp has said.