Baltic Pipe to restart paused construction as it obtains new environmental permit

The Danish Environmental Protection Agency (DEPA) has issued a new environmental permit for the Baltic Pipe project, allowing Energinet to restart construction on parts that have been on pause since spring last year.

Construction on parts of the project in the eastern part of the Jutland peninsula and on the western part of the island of Funen is set to begin again after it was stopped in May 2021 when the Danish Environmental and Food Appeals Board repealed the original DEPA permit, issued back in 2019.

The new environmental permit contains several additional requirements in order to protect wildlife during and after construction.

Work on the 40 kilometers of the pipeline in eastern Jutland from the Egtved compressor station to the Little Belt strait and the 38 kilometers in western Funen from Middelfart to Brylle will commence immediately.

Construction on one of two 50 kV power cables supplying the compressor station in Everdrup in southern Zealand will also resume, Energinet announced.

“We are pleased that we finally have a new permit and are able to finish construction. We are very busy making up for the lost months, in order for us to finalise the project in time,” said Søren Juul Larsen, project manager for Baltic Pipe Project at Energinet.

“Our contractors will add more manpower and machinery to the project, which will allow us to accelerate the pace of construction and finish as soon as possible. This is key for the project and of course also the landowners, who understandably look forward to be able to farm their land again.”

The delay caused Baltic Pipe to aim for two dates for commissioning. Energinet plans to commission the project with partial capacity from 1 October by using parts of the existing gas transmission system in Denmark as a temporary replacement for the parts that have been delayed.

The entire project is expected to be operational on 1 January 2023 at full annual capacity of up to 10 BCM.

The 274-kilometer Baltic Pipe is a strategic infrastructure project between Poland’s GAZ-SYSTEM and the Danish Energinet.