Danish and Polish gas transmission grid operators (TSOs) Energinet and Gaz-System have both made positive investment decisions for the development of the proposed 10 bcm/year Baltic Pipe gas interconnection project. The construction is now set to start in 2020 and the commissioning date is expected in 2022. Meanwhile, Energinet also signed a parallel agreement with the Norwegian TSO Gassco regarding the construction of a tie-in pipeline, which would connect Baltic Pipe and the Norwegian gas pipeline Europipe II, enabling the flow of Norwegian natural gas to Denmark and Poland.
Baltic Pipe would include five parts: one offshore pipeline in the North Sea between the Norwegian and the Danish gas transmission systems across 105-110 km, then a 210-230 km gas transmission section and a compressor station onshore Denmark, a 275-km offshore pipeline between Denmark and Poland across the Baltic Sea and a 230-340 km onshore gas transmission pipeline in Poland.
The project is in line with the European Union's energy policy and is slated to improve the supply security by opening a permanent corridor for the delivery of Norwegian gas to Poland and help it to reduce its dependency to Russian gas imports.