Page 8 - EurOil Week 04 2021

EurOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT EurOil

Fortuna starts Nord Stream 2

work off Denmark

DENMARK RUSSIA’S Fortuna pipe-laying vessel has begun incomplete.
working on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in Dan- Russia responded by deploying its own
It remains to be seen ish waters, despite the US having just slapped pipe-layers last year. Construction in German
whether the companies sanctions on the ship. waters was resumed in December, although
can be replaced in time Initial work is underway in the Danish exclu- most of the remaining 160 km of pipes left to lay
to avoid further delays. sive economic zone and is being “performed are off Denmark.
in line with relevant permits” ahead of actual The US is due to expand its sanctions to com-
pipe-laying, the Gazprom-owned Nord Stream panies involving a number of other services to
2 operating company told reporters on January Nord Stream 2 in the near future, following the
24. passing of legislation by Congress. Companies
Washington is tightening its sanctions regime are taking the threat very seriously. Swiss insurer
against Nord Stream 2 to target any compa- Zurich Insurance Group has reportedly left the
nies involved in its construction. The US State project, as has Norway-based quality assurance
Department imposed sanctions on Fortuna and firm DNV GL and Danish engineering firm
its assumed Russia-based owner KVT-Rus on Ramboll.
January 20. It remains to be seen whether these compa-
Nord Stream 2’s development ground to a nies can be replaced with Russian ones or oth-
halt in December 2019 after the US imposed its ers willing to incur sanctions in time to avoid a
first sanctions on the project, initially targeting further delay at Nord Stream 2. The project is
only the owners of pipe-layers. The move led to currently on track to be largely completed by the
the withdrawal of Swiss contractor Allseas, leav- end of June, more than a year and a half later than
ing just 5% of Nord Stream’2 offshore section under the original schedule. ™

Polish gas plant to run on Lithuanian LNG

POLAND LITHUANIA has announced plans to provide Poland and 2.4 bcm in the other direction. Some
neighbouring Poland with imported LNG to 45% of construction work had been completed
Poland is looking to fuel a gas-fired power station planned in the by early October 2020, according to Lithuanian
build gas-fired capacity north-eastern city of Ostroleka. gas system operator Amber Grid.
after scrapping plans for The Ostroleka project was originally due to Poland has its own LNG terminal, but this is
a coal plant. run on coal, boasting a 1-GW capacity. It was located at Swinoujscie, in the country’s north-
revived in 2016, a year after Poland’s ruling Law west near the German border. The Ostroleka
and Justice Party took office on a platform of facility will be built on the other side of the coun-
saving the nation’s coal industry from collapse. try just 200 km from the Lithuanian border.
But state-owned power utilities Enea and Energa Poland wants to expand the role of gas in
later decided to switch the plan to gas. power generation while also reducing its reli-
Polish oil refiner PKN Orlen, which now ance on Russia for supplies. The country cur-
leads the project after acquiring Energa, has said rently gets two-thirds of its gas from Gazprom.
it will only take an investment decision if the sta- But the government has repeatedly said it does
tion uses gas. not intend to renew its long-term contract with
“According to the plans, the power plant will the Russian supplier, which is due to expire at the
be purchasing its gas via the Klaipeda terminal,” end of 2022.
Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys PKN reached a deal in December to co-op-
told a parliament committee meeting shared on erate with Polish gas company PGNiG on build-
YouTube last week. “This will use a third of its ing a 750-MW gas-fired plant in Ostroleka by
capacities.” the end of 2024. PKN also agreed on taking gas
The Klaipeda terminal’s operator, Klaipedos deliveries from PGNiG until 2027.
Nafta, has not commented on the matter, and The plan has drawn criticism from Poland’s
nor has PKN. influential coal industry, with mining trade
Poland and Lithuania are due to be linked via unions threatening to strike last September
a new gas pipeline by the end of this year, capable unless the government revived the plan for a
of flowing 1.9bn cubic metres per year towards coal-fired plant. ™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 04 28•January•2021