Polish minister Naimski presents Baltic pipeline project in Washington
Polish government's official Piotr Naimski, during Tuesday's speech at the Jamestown Foundation in Washington, highlighted the importance of the planned Baltic Pipe gas pipeline for the energy needs of Poland and the Baltic Sea region countries.
The government's commissioner for strategic energy infrastructure, during his presentation of the Polish strategy for diversifying energy noted that on the same day, Tuesday, the US President Donald Trump pointed to Poland at the session of the UN General Assembly in New York as a "leader of efforts aimed at diversifying energy sources."
Minister Naimski told PAP that the US president's support for the Polish strategy is of great importance especially because "President Trump pointed out that the 'Baltic Pipe' will connect the LNG terminal in Świnoujście, northwestern Poland, with the Norwegian deposits in the North Sea, and therefore it is important for the whole Baltic Sea region and not only for Poland".
During the meeting organised by the private Jamestown Foundation at the prestigious University Club, the Polish official once again pointed out the threats to the safety and unity of Europe posed by the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline planned by Russia and Germany.
"Nord Stream 2 threatens the unity of the Western Europe and the stability of the transatlantic alliance," the Polish minister said at the event attended by representatives of the US State Department and US Department of Energy.
Construction of the Baltic Pipe (Baltic Corridor), a gas pipeline that will connect the LNG terminal in Świnoujście, across the bed of the Baltic sea, with the Danish gas network and natural gas deposits in the Norwegian Shelf, will start in 2020 and end in 2022.
The planned completion of the Baltic Pipe construction coincides with the expiration of the contract for natural gas supplies that Poland has signed with Russia's Gazprom. The planned commissioning of the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline in 2022 also coincides with the anticipated start of deliveries of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) by two US companies, VentureGlobal LNG and Port Arthur LNG, based on long-term contracts concluded by the Polish gas company PGNiG in January this year.
The planned gas pipeline for deposits in the Norwegian North Sea shelf, together with increasing LNG gas storage capacity in the Świnoujście gas terminal is part of the "Northern Gate" project - building a strategic infrastructure allowing for gas transmission from the Świnoujście terminal to the south of Europe, Naimski explained.
