Northern Lights (russian: Сияние северa, ''Siyaniye Severa '') is a natural gas pipeline system in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

and

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

. It is one of the main pipelines supplying north-western Russia and is an important transit route for Russian gas to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

History

The Northern Lights pipeline system was built in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

from the 1960s to 1980s. Construction of the

Vuktyl Vuktyl (russian: Вукты́л, kv, Вуктыл) is a town in the Komi Republic, Russia, located on the right bank of the Pechora River near its confluence with the , northeast of Syktyvkar, the capital of the republic. Population: History ...

–

Ukhta Ukhta (russian: Ухта́; kv, Уква, ''Ukva'') is an important industrial types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Komi Republic of Russia. Population: It was previously known as ''Chibyu'' (until 1939). History Oil springs al ...

–

Gryazovets Gryazovets (russian: Гря́зовец) is a town and the administrative center of Gryazovetsky District in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Rzhavka River, south of Vologda, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History ...

–

Torzhok Torzhok (russian: Торжо́к) is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the Tvertsa River along the federal highway M10 and a branch of the Oktyabrskaya Railway division of the Russian Railways. The town is famous for its folk craft of ...

section started in 1967 and was completed in 1969. By 1974, the pipeline had been extended to

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

. The second main trunk line was added during the 1970s and by 1985, a third main trunk line had been built. Originally, gas was supplied by the Vukhtyl gas field, but later the pipeline was extended in order to connect with the Urengoy gas field.

Technical description

The Northern Lights pipeline system has a total length of , of which around is used to transport Russian gas to Europe. The pipeline runs from the

Urengoy gas field The Urengoy gas field in the northern West Siberia Basin is the world's second largest natural gas field after South Pars / North Dome Gas-Condensate field. The gas field has over ten trillion cubic meters (1013 m³) in total deposits. It li ...

through Vuktyl, Ukhta, Gryazovets, Torzhok and

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

and from there to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

and Lithuania. A part of the newer

Yamal–Europe pipeline The Yamal–Europe natural gas pipeline is a pipeline connecting Russian natural gas fields in the Yamal Peninsula and Western Siberia with Poland and Germany, through Belarus. In Gazprom's development project nomenclature the pipeline consist ...

runs parallel to the Northern Lights pipeline. A branch line from Gryazovets through

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...

supplies the Saint Petersburg area and Finland. A third parallel line will be added to this branch to supply the

Nord Stream 1 Nord Stream (German-English mixed expression; german: Nord and en, Stream, literally 'North Stream'; russian: Северный поток, ''Severny potok'') is a pair of offshore natural gas pipelines in Europe that run under the Baltic Sea ...

pipeline. In Torzhok, the Northern Lights pipeline intersects with the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

–Saint Petersburg pipeline supplying the Saint Petersburg area,

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

and

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

. The Minsk–

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

–

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...

branch line supplies Lithuania and

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and admini ...

while the

Ivatsevichy Ivacevičy ( be, Івацэ́вічы, russian: Ивацевичи, pl, Iwacewicze, lt, Ivasevičai) is a city in the Brest Province of Belarus, an administrative center of the Ivacevičy district. Sports Belarusian football club FC Ivatsevic ...

Dolyna Dolyna ( uk, Доли́на, pl, Dolina, yi, דאלינע) is a city located in Kalush Raion of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (region) in south-western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Dolyna urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Pop ...

branch line supplies Ukraine and the

Kobrin Kobryn ( be, Кобрын; russian: Кобрин; pl, Kobryń; lt, Kobrynas; uk, Кобринь, Kobryn'; yi, קאָברין) is a city in the Brest Region of Belarus and the center of the Kobryn District. The city is located in the southwes ...

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus ** Brest Region ** Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest ** Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Bre ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

branch line supplies Poland. The system from Torzhok to the West consists of five major trunk pipelines: This part of the system has 6 compressors stations. Its technical input capacity is 51 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year; however, due to the age of the pipeline system, its operational capability is estimated to be 46-48 bcm per year. In 2007, it transported 39 bcm of gas; 20.6 bcm to Belarus for domestic supply and 18.4 bcm for transit to Europe. The total amount of Russian gas transmitted through Belarus to Europe was 70.1 bcm in 2007.

Ownership

The Russian section of the pipeline system is a part of the unified gas system of Russia and is owned and operated by

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the largest ...

. The pipeline section on the territory of Belarus became Belarusian property after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and is now owned and operated by

Beltransgaz Gazprom Transgaz Belarus (former name: Beltransgaz) is a natural gas infrastructure and transportation company of Belarus. It operates the main natural gas transit pipelines through Belarus—Northern Lights (pipeline), Northern Lights and Yamal-Eu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Lights (Pipeline) Energy infrastructure completed in 1985 Natural gas pipelines in Russia Natural gas pipelines in Belarus Gazprom pipelines Natural gas pipelines in the Soviet Union Belarus–Russia relations