Russian gas company OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) plans to build two huge underground gas storage facilities in northeastern Germany, the DDP news agency reports Wednesday.
The facilities will hold up to 15 billion cubic meters of natural gas to be transported to Germany from northern Siberia through the planned Nord Stream pipeline, according to the report.
This capacity represents about one tenth of Germany's annual gas needs, Andreas Hickmann, the director of Gazprom's German unit Gazprom Germania, told DDP.
Suitability testing is already underway at one site in Hinrichshagen and should begin at another site near the town of Sewekow in February, DDP reports.
If they are found to be suitable, hundreds of millions of euros will be invested to get the facilities up and running by the time the Nord Stream pipeline starts operations in 2012, DDP reports.