Mounting fears that Russia could sabotage Britain’s gas supply and trigger blackouts have prompted security officials to step up monitoring around vital pipelines to Norway.
Surveillance and monitoring by aerial reconnaissance aircraft of the seas between Norway and the UK have been stepped up in recent weeks, Whitehall sources confirmed.
The RAF’s squadron of Poseidon P-8 marine surveillance and anti-submarine aircraft at Lossiemouth now numbers nine aircraft and a US squadron has also been coming up to strength there, adding another nine Poseidon P-8s that have an anti-submarine capability.
The move represents the first time since the Cold War that American planes have had a presence in the country.
German Poseidon P-8s have also recently been operating out of Lossiemouth.
The aircraft are used for a range of surveillance purposes, including monitoring all kinds of ships as well as submarines and radio traffic.
UK government security experts have also attended industry summits where officials briefed energy executives on emerging threats.
The moves follow a series of incidents in which ships controlled by Russia or its allies have been linked with damage to subsea infrastructure or suspected of spying.
Security officials are concerned that Moscow could seek to target pipelines that transport about 42pc of Britain’s entire gas supply. The impact of any successful attack would be potentially devastating.
Vital subsea infrastructure is increasingly being targeted amid rising tensions between the East and West. Last month a Chinese ship severed internet cables in the Baltic and, in a separate incident, Russian and Chinese vessels were found patrolling close to a key pipeline. Two Baltic pipelines have been severed by explosions, one in 2022 and another last year.
Such incidents have raised concerns about similar risks in the North Sea. Gassco, the Norwegian state-owned company that owns the pipelines running to Britain, has warned: “Incidents such as the explosions in Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 in 2022 and the Baltic Connector incident in 2023 are not linked to Norwegian gas infrastructure, but nevertheless resulted in a need for increased vigilance.
“Further measures have therefore been implemented to protect Norwegian infrastructure. Gassco has worked closely with relevant authorities to manage this situation.”
The UK is highly reliant on energy pipelines running from Norway. The most important is the 1,116km Langeled pipeline, which runs from the Nyhamna gas processing plant on the Norwegian island of Gossa to the Easington gas terminal in Co Durham.
The pipeline, one of the world’s longest, carries up to 26bn cubic metres of gas to the UK each year – more than a third of what the country consumes annually.
It measures just 44 inches in diameter and operates at pressures of 250 atmospheres, meaning any rupture would be likely to cause devastating damage.
Energy crisis risk
The UK has only limited amounts of gas storage so if Langeled was put out of action the country would become reliant on shipments of liquefied natural gas and on imports via other pipelines from Europe. None operate on the scale of Langeled so an attack would most likely trigger an energy crisis.
Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, has ordered that Easington and the UK’s other key gas terminals be policed by the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the UK’s only armed police force, from next April. It is another sign of the growing concerns about the vulnerability of Britain’s energy infrastructure.
Armed police will guard Easington and other gas terminals from next April – Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
A spokesman for National Gas, which oversees the high pressure gas network and overall supplies, said it was preparing for all such incidents.
They said: “The UK gas system is designed for flexibility and resilience, with a diverse range of supply sources, including UKCS, Norway, LNG, and the interconnectors. We prepare for a range of scenarios and potential causes of disruption to any of these sources, ensuring mitigations can be put in place should any issues occur.”
Mark Wilson, operations at OEUK, the trade body for the UK’s offshore oil and gas operators, said the industry had stepped up security preparations.
He said: “We operate the OEUK Security Committee at which relevant government bodies provide briefings. The physical security of offshore and onshore energy infrastructure is part of these engagements.”
Last week the UK, US and Norway staged a joint aerial training exercise around Norway’s high Arctic, including deployment of an American U2 spy plane, a Norwegian Poseidon surveillance aircraft and fighter jets from all three countries.
The exercise was designed to detect, track and weaken an enemy target on allied territory.
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