Gaz-System Seeks Feedback for Gdansk LNG Terminal
Polish gas transmission system operator Gaz-System has launched a non-binding market screening for new transmission capacities to support development of a second LNG import terminal, near Gdansk, it said on July 21.
The Gdansk project is expected to bring ashore up to 4.5bn m3/yr of gas, although a final decision on its capacity has not yet been reached. It was listed as a project of common interest by the European Commission this year, meaning it should secure EU grants and enjoy eased regulation.
The market screening began on July 20 and will run until September 21, during which time consumers and traders will evaluate options for expanded transmission capacity.
Poland's government has declared repeatedly it will not buy any more gas from Russia, its main supplier, after its long-term contract for supplies expires at the end of 2022. Besides the Gdansk project, Gaz-System has committed to expanding the capacity of the country's existing Swinoujscie LNG terminal in the northwest from 5.0 to 8.3bn m3/yr by 2024.
All of that capacity, new and old, has been booked by state-controlled PGNiG, but that will not be enough to hold all its LNG, which will amount to 12bn m³/yr under long-term contracts. CEO Jerzy Kwieczynski told NGW in an interview earlier this month that the company would be "trading a proportion of that overseas."
The company is also building a pipeline to bring up to 10bn m3/yr of gas from Norway, as well as a new gas link with Lithuania. PGNiG has 8.3bn m³/yr firm capacity booked in the Norwegian line as well.