Baltic Pipe Secures More Permits

The regional environmental protection office in the Polish city of Szczecin has approved the offshore part of the Baltic Pipe project, operator Gaz-System said November 27. The line makes landfall in the area of Niechorze and Pogorzelica in Rewal commune, in line with the recommendations of Danish consultancy Ramboll. Issuing the decision allows continuation of the permitting process in Poland and further implementation of the project in line with schedule, the state-owned transmission system operator said.

Gaz-System is still selecting a contractor to execute construction works but the environmental decision for the offshore part "brings us significantly closer to the beginning of the construction stage. Now we need to obtain the location decision and the construction permit for the gas pipeline to be laid in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea," Gaz-System said.

Owing to the international character of the project, a cross-border environmental impact assessment, showing to what extent activities performed in each country can affect the neighbouring countries, has been prepared.  

The permit obtained in Poland is the second of the three environmental permits necessary to lay the gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea. The first decision, covering Denmark's marine areas, was issued to Gaz-System October 25. The permit for the section to be laid in the marine areas of Sweden, in turn, is expected to be issued in the upcoming months.

Baltic Pipe is a 10bn m³/yr strategic project aimed at creating a new natural gas supply corridor from Norway to the Danish and Polish markets and to end-users in the neighbouring countries. It will also be able to transport 3bn m³/yr in the other direction. Building is anticipated to start in 2020 to enable import of natural gas from gas fields in the Norwegian Continental Shelf beginning October 2022. The project is being implemented in close co-operation between Gaz-System and Danish grid operator Energinet.