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Poland’s Gaz-System says it has signed 'all contracts' to build Baltic Pipe

02.12.2020 14:31
Polish gas grid operator Gaz-System says it has "signed all contracts" and holds a complete set of permits needed to build the Baltic Pipe link between Denmark and Poland.
Photo:
Photo:PAP/Marcin Bielecki

The project to build the pipeline is part of Warsaw’s efforts to diversify gas supplies and reduce the country’s energy dependence on Russia.

Gaz-System announced on Tuesday it had completed a months-long process "involving the selection of, negotiations and signing contracts with 40 key providers" for the Baltic Pipe.

The contracts are for construction work, supervision, certification as well as the supply of equipment and materials, the company said.

It added that the "first construction activities" were being undertaken out "in the field."

"We have completed another important stage of the Baltic Pipe project, related to the selection of all construction contractors," Gaz-System CEO Tomasz Stępień was cited as saying in English.

"We have obtained all the necessary decisions, contracted all the works, supervision and certification services as well as principal supplies and all other activities," he said, adding that "the construction phase is the only thing that remains ahead of us."

Stępień also said that "looking at the progress to date, despite the pandemic, we can confirm that the project schedule is not at risk."

"Gas from Norway will flow through the Baltic Pipe to Poland in October 2022," Stępień declared.

Piotr Naimski, the Polish government's pointman on strategic energy infrastructure, said in May that the new pipeline from Denmark would boost Poland’s energy security and put an end to the country's dependence on Russia for gas, while depriving Moscow of a pressure tool.

The Polish president said in May that Italian company Saipem had landed a massive deal to build the offshore part of the strategic gas link from Denmark to Poland.

Poland’s Gaz-System in January signed a deal in Warsaw for the supply of pipes for the planned new gas link.

Gaz-System in August last year signed a contract with US manufacturer Solar Turbines on the delivery of key components for the Baltic Pipe.

Poland's Naimski at the time hailed the EUR 115 million contract as “a milestone on the road to constructing the Baltic Pipe.”

Under a deal signed in Brussels in April last year, the European Union agreed to provide EUR 215 million in funds to subsidise the planned gas link.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at the time hailed the Baltic Pipe as a "breakthrough project" that would take Poland's energy security to the next level.

The European Commission has said that “the Baltic Pipe project, a new, bi-directional offshore gas interconnection between Poland and Denmark, will be crucial for security of supply and market integration of the region.”

Work to build the Baltic Pipe, which would connect the Polish and Danish gas transmission systems and enable Poland to access gas from Norway, is expected to be completed by October 1, 2022.

Once built, the Baltic Pipe will have the capacity to carry 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Norway to Poland annually.

The Polish president last year described the pipeline as "a strategic project for Poland’s energy transformation, as well as for the energy security of the entire Central and Eastern Europe region."

Poland’s annual gas usage is estimated at around 17 billion cubic metres, of which half is imported from Russia’s gas giant Gazprom under a contract expiring in 2022.

The Polish prime minister said in May last year that this country aimed to wean itself off Russian gas over the next three to four years.

(gs/pk)

Source: energetyka24.comgaz-system.pl