Poland gives second environmental go-ahead for Baltic Pipe project

Polish authorities have granted an environmental decision for one of five component projects for GAZ-SYSTEM’s Baltic Pipe project, designed to bring Norwegian gas to Poland via the Baltic Sea.

The Regional Director for Environmental Protection in the town of Szczecin issued a decision on Friday, May 17, on environmental conditions for the part of the Baltic Pipe project.

The Polish authorities gave the environmental go-ahead for an onshore part of the pipeline which is one of five component projects implemented under the Baltic Pipe in Poland.

The gas pipeline connecting the offshore pipeline with the Polish National Transmission System will be approximately 85-90 kilometers long with a nominal diameter of 900 mm. It will be operating with a pressure of 12 MPa and 8.4 MPa.

The gas pipeline will be built in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship with three separate sections. Namely, the first section of the pipeline from the Line Valve Station in Niechorze to the receiving terminal in Konarzewo will be some 4.5 kilometers long.

The second section will go from the receiving terminal to the gas transmission hub in Płoty and will be around 36.5 kilometers long. The third and final section will go from Płoty to Goleniów and will be approximately 42 kilometers long.

The construction of a pipeline connecting the offshore gas pipeline through the receiving terminal with the National Transmission System will allow to receive gas from Norway and ensure technical possibility of two-way gas transmission – from Norway to Poland in the amount of 10 billion cbm/year and from Poland to Denmark in the amount of 3 billion cbm/year.

This is the second environmental decision for the project under the Baltic Pipe program in Poland. The first decision was issued by the Regional Director for Environmental Protection in Gorzów Wielkopolski on February 4 for the Goleniów-Lwówek pipeline section.

Baltic Pipe project

The project, co-financed by the EU and being carried out by Danish and Polish gas transmission operators Energinet and GAZ-SYSTEM, will bring gas sourced from Norwegian offshore fields via the Baltic Sea to Poland.

The project promises to help Poland wean off its reliance on Russian imports, and at the same time, the aim is to slash Polish consumption of coal in a move to tackle carbon dioxide emissions.

Poland, which according to reports has a gas supply deal with Russia’s Gazprom until 2022, hopes the Baltic Pipe Project would reduce Poland’s “and eventually Eastern and Central Europe’s” dependency on Russian gas imports.

Polish and Danish gas transmission system operators GAZ-SYSTEM and Energinet committed to construct overall 900 km long offshore and onshore gas pipeline. Baltic Pipe will be crossing three national territories – Denmark, Sweden, and Poland, and gas transmission is expected to start in October 2022.

To remind, the European Commission committed to providing €215 million in mid-April to finance part of the construction costs of the Baltic Pipe project.

Spotted a typo? Have something more to add to the story? Maybe a nice photo? Contact our editorial team via email. Offshore Energy Today, established in 2010, is read by more than 10.000 industry professionals daily.

We had almost 9 million page views in 2018, with 2.4 million new users. This makes us one of the world’s most attractive online platforms in the space of offshore oil and gas.

These stats allow our partners advertising on Offshore Energy Today to get maximum exposure to their online campaigns. If you’re interested in showcasing your company, product or technology on Offshore Energy Today contact our marketing manager Mirza Duran for advertising options.