Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz on Friday told Polish Radio that a recent decision by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency to suspend the construction of the Norway-Poland gas link due to concern over wildlife, pertained to only one section of the project.
“This undertaking consists of three parts… including the Denmark-Poland section called Baltic Pipe. The two other sections remain unaffected,” Przydacz said on Friday. He added that Warsaw was hoping for Copenhagen’s favourable response. “We will try to clarify the issue to bring the old decision back,” Przydacz added.
Denmark’s Environmental Protection Agency had cited concern over the impact on protected mice and bat species to back its decision to halt construction in Denmark of Baltic Pipe, a pipeline connecting Poland with Norwegian gas fields, Danish grid operator Energinet said on Thursday.
The suspension followed the rescinding of an environmental permit by a public appeals committee. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency had given the permit before it was sufficiently clarified if the animals would be protected during the construction, according to Energinet, which is building the pipeline in Denmark.
Energinet said that further environmental studies would be needed, which would cease construction work until the necessary permits had been obtained.
The environmental permit for the 900-kilometre (560-mile) pipeline, designed to reduce Poland’s reliance on Russian gas, was originally given in 2019.
The gas link was initially expected to be completed in 2022, but it was not immediately clear whether the construction halt would delay the project.
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Source: IAR, Reuters