Germany, Poland at odds over Baltic LNG Terminal
German opposition is placing a proposed Polish liquefied natural gas terminal in jeopardy.
Poland is planning an LNG terminal at the port of Swinoujscie on the Baltic Sea coast next to the border with Germany.
Construction was to start this month, but Polish daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reports that Germany has 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.
Polish Deputy Finance Minister Mikolaj Budzanowski said the demand could delay finalization of the terminal, envisioned for 2014, by two to three years.
"It would also invalidate the construction permit and the environmental decisions," he told the newspaper.
Political and economic overtones overshadow the discussion.
Some on the Polish side have speculated that Germany intends 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.
The daily reports that the German government wasn't satisfied with the environmental impact analysis conducted by Gaz-System, Poland's state-owned gas grid operator. Poland was opposed to Nord Stream and German opposition to Swinoujscie may be payback for resulting delays in that project.
Germany is also opposed to European Union financing of the terminal. The EU has already pledged 80 million euros for the construction at Swinoujscie. Cezary Lewanowicz, a spokesman for the European Commission said that the German request did not change the funding decision.
Talks are being undertaken amongst the various parties. Representatives of the Municipal Office for the Environment and Nature in German Stralsund and the General Directorate for Protection Środowska met Monday and GDOŚ head Kiełsznia Michael reported that the meetings proceeded in a very friendly atmosphere.
For Poland, the terminal represents an opportunity to become less dependent on Russian natural gas imports. Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reports that the LNG terminal could satisfy at least 30 percent of Poland's gas needs.