Gas what! Baltic Pipe gas pipeline construction to start within days, says president
Construction work on of the Baltic Pipe project to bring Norwegian gas from Denmark to Poland, "a milestone towards the full diversification of gas supplies", is due to begin in the next few days, President Andrzej Duda told a Monday briefing.
The gas pipeline will run along the Baltic Sea bed, first from the Norwegian shelf to Denmark, and then through Denmark to Trzesacz on the Polish coast and will allow Poland's independence from Russian gas supplies, Duda said.
The full diversification of gas supplies will see the handling capacity of LNG terminal in Swinoujscie sea port expanded to 17.5 billion cubic meters a year.
On April 30, Poland's gas network operator Gaz System signed a contract for the construction of the underwater stretch of the Baltic Pipe with the Italian oilfield services company Saipem, the president told the briefing.
"The investment is indeed starting and all the Danish and Polish permits for its implementation have been obtained," Duda said adding the investment would be launched on both the Danish and Polish coasts.
Duda described the project as "really very good news for Poland, and not just for the near future, but I deeply believe that for the coming decades."
According to the president, Poland's full diversification of gas supplies is possible thanks to the Baltic Pipe on one hand, and to the LNG terminal in Swinoujscie sea port, whose handling capacity is currently being expanded to 17.5 billion cubic meters a year.
The gas pipeline will run along the Baltic Sea bed, first from the Norwegian shelf to Denmark, and then through Denmark to Trzesacz on the Polish coast.
Duda also said that the Baltic Pipe project encompasses construction of interconnectors which will enable gas supplies to the Three Seas countries lying between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas, as well as Ukraine. This will make Poland "one of the guarantors of Ukraine's energy security," he added.
Duda said that the Baltic Pipeline will also make Poland "one of the guarantors of Ukraine's energy security."
The full launch of the gas pipeline is planned for October 1, 2022.
