A little over 150 km of Nord Stream 2 remains to be laid in Danish and German waters after an initial threat of US sanctions last December forced principal pipe-layer Allseas to halt work.

The Danish Energy Agency granted the permit on Thursday almost a year after the application was submitted.

Nord Stream 2 would double the capacity of the gas corridor via the Baltic Sea to Germany to 110 Bcm/year and would reduce the need for Russia to use Ukraine as a transit country for gas supply to Europe.

The latest IAEA annual projections show that nuclear power will continue to play a key role in the world’s low-carbon energy mix, with global nuclear electrical capacity seen nearly doubling by 2050 in our high case scenario. Climate change mitigation remains a key potential driver for maintaining and expanding the use of nuclear power.

“The Baltic Sea pipeline is above all in the interests of Germany and western Europe as we want to achieve the energy transformation,”

Schwesig said she agreed that Russia had to explain the poisoning, but said the crime "should not be used to challenge Nord Stream 2."

The German government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel has up to now supported Nord Stream 2, which is almost complete with just 160 km of the line left to lay in Danish waters.

U.S. sanctioned Iran-based Abadan Refining; China-based Zhihang Ship Management, New Far International Logistics and Sino Energy Shipping; and UAE-based Chemtrans Petrochemicals Trading.

Iraq is under US pressure to wean itself off Iranian electricity and gas imports,

Grossi reportedly said: "The IAEA will not succumb to outside pressure over Iran. The agency is not swayed by any third party, but naturally there is some pressure which the agency will not bow to …

Companies involving in building the Nord Stream 2 link can now be targeted

The United States has tightened sanctions on the pipeline, designed and led by Russia’s Gazprom

"Nord Stream 2 does not share the procedural arguments of the court and maintains that the amendment of the Gas Directive constitutes an unlawful discrimination," a spokesman for Nord Stream 2 told

Total sanctioning value will end up at around $47 billion, an amount that would be even lower if not for recent developments in Norway and Russia.

The changes to the CAATSA guidance is the latest move by the US to put pressure on companies involved in building both Nord Stream 2 and the TurkStream extension in Bulgaria and Serbia into Hungary.