GAZ-SYSTEM selects potential suppliers of first Gdańsk FSRU

November 15, 2023, by Aida Čučuk

Poland’s natural gas transmission system operator GAZ-SYSTEM has concluded agreements with Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Norway’s BW LNG as potential suppliers of the first floating storage regasification unit (FSRU), which will serve as a regasification terminal in the Gulf of Gdańsk.

The two parties were selected in the first stage of a tender procedure for the FSRU, GAZ-SYSTEM revealed, noting that a process is still underway to select one supplier from the two pre-selected in the second stage, with which a charter agreement will be signed. Regasification services are planned to start in early 2028.

According to GAZ-SYSTEM, the agreements regulate the most important terms of the future charterparty, such as the vessel delivery date, the obligations of the parties, the consequences of delayed delivery, and the charter period.

The provisions of the term sheet do not constitute binding obligations for the parties but set out the “roadmap” for further negotiations of the charterparty, and their essential content will be reflected in the final charter agreement, GAZ-SYSTEM pointed out, adding that the company plans to conclude the final deal with one of the entities for a period of 15 years.

Marcin Chludziński, GAZ-SYSTEM President, expressed confidence in the selection of the shipping companies and noted that the construction of the FSRU terminal in the Gulf of Gdańsk is currently GAZ-SYSTEM’s most important investment project.

Anna Łukaszewska-Trzeciakowska, Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure, stated: “We are just one step away from signing a charter agreement for the FSRU vessel for the terminal in the Gulf of Gdańsk. Poland has greatly benefited from its consistent development of energy infrastructure. The implementation of the FSRU project complements the long-term strategy of diversifying the directions of blue fuel supply and building gas security for Poland and the region. It constitutes a counterbalance to Russian supplies in the region and provides new opportunities for the economic growth of our country.”

Yngvil Åsheim, BW LNG CEO, and Toshinobu Shinoda, Managing Director of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.’s Regional Head Quarter, MOL (Europe Africa), said they were honored to be shortlisted to contribute to the project in the Gulf of Gdańsk.

To note, this FSRU is estimated to be capable of regasification of 6.1 bcm of gaseous fuel per year, and GAZ-SYSTEM has already signed the agreement covering the entire regasification capacity of the unit.

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The project’s offshore infrastructure consists mainly of the mooring jetty and the offshore gas pipeline, GAZ-SYSTEM said, noting that it is also necessary to build a breakwater.

The entire planned offshore infrastructure, including the FSRU, will be located approximately three kilometers away from the shore. The FSRU mooring jetty and the breakwater will be located close to the existing approach fairway and within the Port of Gdańsk, and the offshore pipeline will allow gas to be transported to the national transmission network. GAZ-SYSTEM said that approximately 250 kilometers of transmission pipelines will be constructed as part of the project to enable efficient distribution of gas from the Gdańsk area to central Poland. The construction of onshore gas pipelines is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2024, but no later than the first quarter of 2025.

The commissioning of the entire investment, which has the status of a ‘Project of Community Interest’ with the financial support of the European Commission (EC) for pre-investment works for the offshore part of the project, is planned for 2027/2028.

In October 2023, GAZ-SYSTEM signed agreements with the Maritime Office in Gdynia and the Port of Gdańsk Authority, under which GAZ-SYSTEM will be responsible for the construction of the mooring jetty and the offshore and onshore gas pipelines, the Maritime Office in Gdynia will be responsible for the construction of the infrastructure, including the breakwater and the fairway together with the aids to navigation, and the Port of Gdańsk Authority, as the entity managing the port infrastructure and its development, will play a supporting role during the project engineering, preparatory, and implementation stages.

In regard to the FSRU 2, in September 2023, GAZ-SYSTEM completed the process of registration of entities interested in participating in the binding open season procedure. This unit is estimated to be capable of LNG offloading, process storage, and regasification at the level of 4.5 bcm/a of gaseous fuel per year.