Page 13 - Euroil Week 19 2020

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Poland gets final approval for Baltic Pipe
POLAND
The pipeline is due on stream in October 2022.
POLAND has secured all necessary permits for construction of a pipeline to bring up to 10bn cubic metres per year of gas from Norway.
The Baltic Pipe, connecting the Norwe- gian, Danish and Polish gas grids, has secured approval from Sweden for its 85-km section run- ning through the Swedish exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Polish grid operator Gaz-System said in a statement on May 11. Earlier it obtained permits from regulators in Poland and Denmark for the pipeline’s other offshore and onshore parts.
“This decision has shown that the Swedish government recognises the project’s impor- tance, not only for Poland and Denmark, but also for the whole European Union, for tighten- ing co-operation among EU member states and perhaps most of all, for becoming independent of gas supplies from Russia,” Gaz-System Presi- dent Tomasz Stepien said.
Poland sees Baltic Pipe as the answer to free- ing itself from dependence on Russian gas. It is also expanding its LNG import terminal in Swinoujscie and has mooted plans to build a second one in Gdansk. It is also constructing a new pipeline to Lithuania that will enable it to access additional LNG.
A final investment decision (FID) on Baltic
Pipe was taken in 2018, and in April this year Gaz-System awarded a contract to Italy’s Saipem to lay the pipeline’s offshore portion. Work is due to begin in the second half of this year, and wrap up by October 2022.
Two months later Polish state gas firm PGNiG’s long-term gas supply contract with Gazprom is due to expire, and it is does not intend to renew it. PGNiG has booked 8.2 bcm per year of Baltic Pipe’s flow capacity.
There is a potential risk to Baltic Pipe, as the pipeline is due to cross both the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, and will therefore need approval from their operators. While Nord Stream 1 is owned by a consortium of Russia’s Gazprom and EU companies, Gazprom is the sole owner of the yet-to-be completed Nord Stream 2 – a project Poland vehemently opposes.
Gazprom could delay its approval, although it did agree technical conditions with Gaz-System for the crossing of Baltic Pipe and Nord Stream 2 in December last year.
Gaz-System operates Baltic Pipe through a joint venture with Denmark’s Energinet. The 275-km pipeline is slated to cost €1.6-2.1bn ($1.7-2.3bn), and will include the expansion of Denmark’s grid and a link to Norway’s Europe-2 pipeline in the North Sea. ™
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