Nord Stream AG, based in Zug, Switzerland, is an international consortium of five major companies established in 2005 for the planning, construction and subsequent operation of two 1,224-kilometre natural gas pipelines through the Baltic Sea. The five shareholders of the Nord Stream consortium are Gazprom international projects North 1 LLC (PJSC Gazprom subsidiary), Wintershall Dea AG (formerly Wintershall Holding GmbH), PEG Infrastruktur AG (E.ON), N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie and ENGIE. Gazprom international projects North 1 LLC holds a 51 percent stake in the pipeline project. Leading German energy companies Wintershall Dea AG and PEGI/E.ON hold 15.5 percent each, and the Dutch natural gas infrastructure company N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie, along with the leading French energy provider ENGIE, each hold a 9 percent stake. The combined experience of these companies ensures the best technology, safety and corporate governance for the Nord Stream project, which aims to provide a secure energy supply for Europe. Nord Stream AG owns and operates the Nord Stream 1 pipeline system which the EU designated in 2006 a “Project of European Interest”. This inclusion in the Trans-European Network Guidelines (TEN-E) of the EU recognized Nord Stream AG and its asset Nord Stream 1 as a key project for meeting Europe’s energy infrastructure needs. The twin pipelines, which have been operational since 2011 and 2012 respectively, have the capacity to transport a combined total of about 55 bcm of gas a year – that's enough to satisfy the energy demand of more than 26 million European households.