The Polish gas transmission system operator (TSO) Gaz-System has awarded a €280m contract to Saipem to build a section of the 10 bcm/year Baltic Pipe gas pipeline project between Denmark and Poland.
Gaz-System and Energinet.dk both made positive investment decisions for the development of the €1.6bn project in December 2018. The project would be made of 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 has secured all approvals in Denmark and Poland and the last permit for the pipeline section passing through the Swedish exclusive economic zone should be approved in the coming months. Construction should start in the second half of 2020 and the pipeline should be operational in October 2022.
Poland has been diversifying its gas supply in recent years. In November 2019, PGNiG announced that it would end its 9 bcm/year gas supply contract with Gazprom. According to Yamal contract’s term, which was concluded in 1996, the parties are required to submit a declaration three years before its termination date whether they intend to continue the deal.