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Poland awards contracts for LNG expansion

POLAND POLAND’S gas grid operator Gaz-System has receiving gas from different parts of the world,”
issued contracts worth PLN1.9bn ($480mn) for he told a news conference.
The terminal’s capacity expansion of the country’s sole LNG import ter- Poland has several other new gas import pro-
is due to be expanded minal in Swinoujscie, it said on June 24. jects underway at the moment, including pipe-
to 8.3 bcm per year. The terminal is due to be expanded to take lines from Norway and Lithuania and potentially
8.3bn cubic metres of gas per year by 2024, up the construction of a second LNG terminal in
from 5 bcm at present, helping Poland wean itself Gdansk. The government has declared that it will
off Russian gas. not renew its long-term contract for Russian gas,
Gaz-System’s Polskie LNG subsidiary and the which expires at the end of 2022.
authority for the ports of Szczecin and Swinou- Polish gas demand is also set to grow over the
jscie awarded the contracts to Austria’s Porr and coming years, as some coal-fired power capacity
China’s TGE Gas Engineering. The agreements is phased out and replaced with gas-based gener-
cover the design, construction and commission- ation. Record low gas prices in Europe, coupled
ing of both the project’s onshore and offshore with the rising cost of EU carbon emissions per-
structures. mits which have eroded margins at coal plants,
Commenting on the awards, Piotr Naimski, could prompt the government to fast-track the
a minister responsible for Polish energy infra- switchover.
structure, said the expansion was “essential” for Polish gas firm PGNiG has recently reserved
Poland to improve its energy security and forgo the capacity of the expanded Swinoujscie termi-
imports from Russia, which still account for nal. Longer term, its plan is not only to supply
more than half its supply. domestic customers but also transit gas to neigh-
“The terminal gives us the flexibility of bouring countries such as Ukraine. ™

Hungary reaches deal with Gazprom

on 2021 gas deliveries

HUNGARY HUNGARY has agreed to take delivery of 4.2bn October 2021.
cubic metres (bcm) of gas from Russia’s Gaz- Besides establishing two-way interconnec-
The supplies are a prom in the twelve months from October 2020, tors with its neighbours, Hungary is seeking
stopgap while the two Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter alternative sources as a ballast to leverage lower
sides agree longer-term Szijjarto said on June 23 after talks with Russian prices from Gazprom.
arrangements. officials in Moscow. Budapest has offered to buy a 25% stake
Szijjarto said talks are starting on gas deliver- in the LNG terminal in Krk, but only if it can
ies for the period after the coming gas year, too. acquire gas from the terminal at a competitive
“Our goal is to reach an agreement that price, according to Hungarian officials. Recently
extends for three five-year periods, with an MFGK Croatia, owned by Hungary’s state-
option to cancel after each five-year period,” he owned electricity giant MVM, has booked seven
said. “That will secure our long-term supply as years of capacity totalling 1.66bcm. ™
well as ensure that we can re-negotiate the agree-
ment or withdraw from it if better opportunities
arise or if there are changes on the international
energy market in the meantime,” he added.
Hungary is buying 2bcm of gas from Russia
to put in reserves during the summer and deliv-
eries have already started.
The government has also expressed interest
in taking delivery of Russian gas through the
Turk Stream pipeline, running under the Black
Sea, from the end of next year.
Hungary is building a 15km stretch of pipe-
line from the Serbian border connecting to the
national gas transmission system. This would
eventually allow the delivery of 6bcm of gas from

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 25 25•June•2020