In October 2025, more than three years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the destruction of three of the four Nord Stream pipeline strings in 2022, the German environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) published an internal draft government report that once again confirms that the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) gas pipeline poses a serious risk to energy supply security in Germany and the entire European Union.

The document, known as the "Versorgungssicherheitsbericht NS2," dated July 8, 2022, was prepared by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action under then-Minister Robert Habeck. Its disclosure comes at a moment when the new minister, Katherina Reiche (CDU), is leaving the door open for a potential resumption of the project's certification.

The report, whose full title is "Entwurf Versorgungssicherheitsbericht Nord Stream 2," was drafted as part of the NS2 certification procedure required under German energy law (EnWG §4b). Its purpose was to assess whether a pipeline with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year would strengthen or weaken supply security. The analysis is based on economic, geopolitical, and legal data, including models simulating crisis scenarios such as disruptions in supply from Russia.

The document's key conclusions are unambiguous and negative. NS2, which bypasses Ukraine and Central and Eastern European countries, increases Germany's one-sided dependence on Russia's Gazprom, exposing the energy system to political manipulation. The report emphasizes that the project served "the interests of Vladimir Putin's power," enabling Moscow to engage in energy blackmail — a phenomenon that became reality following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Simulations indicate that in the event of supply disruptions via NS2, Germany would have to import more expensive LNG from other sources, which would raise prices by 20–30 percent and threaten network stability in neighboring countries such as Poland and Czechia.

The document also analyzes legal aspects: NS2 violates EU directives on operator unbundling, which could lead to disputes with the European Commission. Ecologically, the report does not overlook methane emissions from construction and operation — it estimates them at millions of tons of CO2 equivalent per year, conflicting with the EU's climate targets. DUH emphasizes that the report was ready for publication in 2022, but the Olaf Scholz government, in which Robert Habeck served, halted certification on February 22, 2022, just before the outbreak of war, withdrawing an earlier positive assessment from 2021.

Nord Stream 2, constructed between 2018 and 2021 at a cost of nearly 11 billion euros, was controversial from the outset. Critics, including the US, Poland, and the Baltic states, saw it as an instrument of Russian and German dominance. Despite sanctions, the project was completed in September 2021. In December of that year, the German regulator BNetzA suspended certification on procedural grounds. The war in Ukraine accelerated the decision: on February 22, 2022, the Scholz government blocked NS2. The culmination came with the explosions of September 26, 2022 — blasts damaged both NS1 strings and one NS2 string, causing a methane leak estimated at 28.5 million tons of CO2 equivalent. DUH had warned of such risks as early as April 2022.

The 2022 report, though not public, confirms these concerns. It was discussed internally with the ministries of foreign affairs (AA), the chancellery (BK-Amt), and the finance ministry (BMF), with a plan to forward it to BNetzA.

In 2025, under the government of Friedrich Merz (CDU/CSU), the situation is evolving. Economics Minister Katharina Reiche, in response to DUH's comments, acknowledged:

"Wiederaufnahme des ruhenden Verfahrens [...] nicht ausgeschlossen werden kann" — a resumption of the dormant procedure cannot be ruled out in the medium term.

DUH sees this as "Gedankenspiele" (speculation) that threatens solidarity with Ukraine and climate objectives.

The report's significance is twofold. Historically, it proves that the risks of NS2 were obvious before the war — the 2022 report is "evidence" of mismanagement by previous governments. In the present, amid the energy crisis and transformation, it underscores the need for diversification. DUH argues that NS2, as "Europe's largest gas project," blocks the Energiewende, Germany's energy transition.

Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Managing Director of DUH, appeals:

"If Chancellor Merz is serious about finally closing the NS2 chapter, he must intervene with Reiche and revoke all operating permits. (...) The report shows that NS2 was always a threat. Reiche's refusal to publish the report is incomprehensible — transparency is crucial given such a controversial history."

[Aleksandra Fedorska is a journalist for Tysol.pl and numerous Polish and German media outlets]

["What You Need to Know" and FAQ sections, as well as subheadings and lead by the Editorial Team]