Poland Awards Baltic Pipe Survey

Polish state-owned gas grid operator, Gaz-System, signed August 3 a contract with Danish engineering consultancy group Ramboll for execution of analytical, survey and design work required to secure building permits for construction of the Baltic Pipe offshore pipeline.

"Initial geophysical and environmental surveys in the Baltic Sea are scheduled to commence already in August; they will allow us to determine the exact route of the gas pipeline,” said Gaz System CEO Tomasz Stepien August 4. The subsea pipe will connect Denmark to Poland.

Scope of work covers geophysical, geotechnical and environmental surveys with the securing of requisite building permits for construction of the offshore pipeline. Ramboll Danmark will also be responsible for developing legally required procedures, approvals and consultations. Furthermore, it will prepare detailed design and procurement documentation enabling commencement and pursuit of construction work.

The subsea project from Denmark to Poland will eventually enable up to 10bn m³/yr to flow to Poland from the Norwegian sector part of the North Sea. Polish government policy is replace much, or all, existing Gazprom supplies to state-run importer PGNiG with alternative Norwegian or LNG supplies.

The first phase of the 2017 Open Season Procedure, completed on July 25, confirmed sufficient market interest for gas transmission from the North Sea via Denmark and the Baltic Sea to Poland, said Gaz-System and, on that basis, both it and Danish gas grid operator Energinet decided to develop the Baltic Pipe project. In early September, the second phase of the 2017 Open Season Procedure will start, enabling the submission of binding bids. PGNiG said a week ago it expected the open season to start September 5.

Gaz-System says the Denmark-Poland Baltic Pipe is just one of five elements that will enable the Polish gas system to import Norwegian gas; it said the others are the complex pipeline from the Norwegian system in the North Sea to the Danish tie-in; expansion of the existing transmission capacity in the Danish onshore system; construction of the Zealand compressor station in Denmark; and expansion of the Polish transmission system.

Baltic Pipe project that will connecting Denmark and Poland beneath the Baltic Sea, and other related components (Map credit: Gaz-System) 

Mark Smedley