German authorities are considering re-tasking the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to deliver green hydrogen or natural gas from Finland, Handelsblatt reported on February 5, citing sources familiar with the discussions.

While official government representatives have denied any plans to certify or restart the project, the idea of restarting gas deliveries via the pipeline have been growing in volume recently.

Europe remains hooked on Russian gas and the combination of a cold winter and the end of Ukraine gas transit since January 1 will put added pressure on the EU’s ability to supply itself with gas this year. Future prices for gas sales this summer have already risen strongly in anticipation of shortages.

In particular, the idea of restarting the pipeline has been suggested as a bargaining chip in the mooted ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine that are expected to start soon.

In the meantime, Germany is hunting to find ways to improve its energy security, after it was cut off from cheap Russian piped gas and chose to close down its fleet of powerful nuclear power plants (NPPs).

"A new pipeline would be too expensive," the report notes, suggesting that repurposing Nord Stream 2 could be a more pragmatic solution. One proposed option involves constructing a separate connection from Finland, allowing hydrogen to be transported via the remaining intact sections of the pipeline to Germany. One of the four strands of the Nord Stream pipeline was undamaged in the bombing attack.

A German government spokesperson told Handelsblatt that while no formal discussions on resuming the pipeline have taken place, authorities "do not want to leave its future to chance."

In preparation of a possible restart of the pipeline’s operations Denmark’s Energy Agency granted pipeline operator Nord Stream 2 AG permission to mothball the infrastructure. The decision requires workers to install specially designed plugs at each open end of the pipe “to prevent further gas leakage and the influx of oxygen-rich seawater.”

Nord Stream 2, originally intended to double Russia’s direct gas supply capacity to Germany, was left inoperative following an explosion in September 2022, which severely damaged both Nord Stream pipelines. While no formal investigations have publicly attributed responsibility, the incident remains a focal point of geopolitical tensions in Europe’s energy landscape.

Journalistic investigations have claimed that three Ukrainian citizens were suspected of blowing up the pipelines. In August 2024, Germany issued an arrest warrant in the Nord Stream bombing case for a Ukrainian national living in Poland, who escaped and fled back to Ukraine.