Poland to Finally Give up Russian Gas

The construction of the most difficult section of the pipeline to give up Russian gas, through which Poland will receive natural gas from Norway, has been completed. The completion of the project is scheduled for the end of 2022.

After the commissioning of the pipeline, Poland will finally be able to give up Russian gas. Construction of the most difficult part of the pipeline, the Baltic Sea section, has been completed. After the completion of the last part of the pipeline, Denmark and Poland were connected.

Why We Give Up Russian Gas:

Although the media is more likely to talk about the “North Stream”, which will also connect Russia directly with Germany via the Baltic Sea, the Baltic Pipe can radically change the situation in the Polish gas market. Poland is one of the largest consumers of Russian gas in Eastern Europe, ranking sixth in the EU after Germany, Italy, Austria, France and the Netherlands.

The Baltic Pipe is planned to transport 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. This is how much Poland has been receiving from Russia through the Yamali-Europe gas pipeline through Belarus. The contract with Gazprom has been signed until the end of 2022 and Poland is not going to extend it.

If Poland no longer receives Russian gas through the pipeline, Gazprom will be able to supply natural gas to Germany through the North Stream instead of Poland.

The Polish section of the Yamali-Europe gas pipeline is owned by EuroPol Gaz, half of which is owned by Gazprom. After the commissioning of the Baltic Pipe, this section may be used for the backup transportation of Norwegian natural gas from west to east. Currently, Gaz-System, which owns the Norwegian-Polish gas pipeline, will have to solve several problems.

It is necessary to complete the construction of the pipeline in Poland itself and solve the problem of the Danish section, where the government has suspended the construction of the pipeline on several sections due to environmental considerations. Energinet, which is the Danish partner of the Polish Baltic Pipe, is currently trying to obtain a new permit to continue the work.

In addition, the energy company states that by October 2022, Poland will in any case receive Norwegian natural gas and the existing pipeline infrastructure in Denmark will be used for it.

Experts predict that the monopoly of the Russian “Gazprom” on the European market will soon end.