Uniper Eyes Sale of 20% of Germany's Opal Pipeline: Press
Germany's Uniper is eyeing the possible sale of its 20% interest in Germany's 36.5bn m3/yr Opal pipeline, which connects Russia's Nord Stream 1 pipeline with European grids, Reuters reported on September 29 citing sources. Uniper declined to comment on the report to NGW.
According to Reuters, Uniper is working with investment bank Citi to prepare a sales auction, which may take place later this year. The company controls its interest in Opal through subsidiary Lubmin-Brandov Gastransport, while the remaining 80% is held by Wiga Transport, a joint venture between Germany's Wintershall Dea and Russia's Gazprom.
Opal connects with Nord Stream 1 in northern Germany and runs for 470 km to the Czech border in the country's south. It does not run at full capacity because of EU energy rules restricting how much gas Gazprom can send via the pipeline.
Potential bidders for Uniper's stake will receive initial information on the asset in the coming weeks, but the sales process is not expected to get underway properly until after the US elections, Reuters said. The US has been very critical of Europe's reliance on Russian gas, and is looking to impose tougher sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 project, that runs mostly parallel to Nord Stream 1.