Germany Drops Opposition to Świnoujście Terminal

Germany has dropped its objections to Poland's planned liquified natural gas terminal at the port of Swinoujscie on the Baltic Sea coast. European Commission Spokesman, Marlene Holzner, confirmed Brussels had received an official letter of confirmation from German authorities.

Germany had called for a re-evaluation of the permits and for Poland to carry out an environmental assessment study under the Espoo Convention, a U.N. treaty that handles cross-border environmental concerns. Apparently the German government wasn't satisfied with the environmental impact analysis conducted by Gaz-System, Poland's state-owned gas grid operator.

Poland cried foul and many on that side speculated that the Germany moves were intended to impede the Swinoujscie terminal as it would directly compete with the Nord Stream pipeline project, which intends to sell gas to Poland.

Nord Stream is led by Russia's Gazprom with prominent German stakeholders, E.ON Ruhrgas and BASF/Wintershall. Poland was opposed to Nord Stream and German opposition to Swinoujscie was thought to be payback for resulting delays in that project.

Germany also opposed to European Union financing of the terminal. The EU has already pledged 80 million euros for the construction at Swinoujscie. Holzner added that soon Poland will be allowed to apply for the first funding tranche.

Polish News Agency reports that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that Świnoujście will bring Poland closer toward a sustainable system of gas supplies.

'One-third of Poland's demand for gas would be covered by LNG terminal supplies, one-third would from Poland's traditional supplier - Russia and one-third from local output' Tusk said. He added that if the estimates concerning shale gas deposits were confirmed, 'these proportions would alter in favour of local production'. He also underlined that the LNG terminal 'would guarantee Poland's energy security in a strategic dimension'.