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Hermes Energy Group withdrew from the fight for access to Baltic Pipe’s capacity. The pipeline will transmit gas from the Norwegian Continental Shelf to Poland. According to the company, the Act on Mandatory Stocks of Fossil Fuels makes it impossible for Hermes to participate in the project.
“Naturally we have expressed interest in taking part in the bidding for Baltic Pipe’s capacity, as well as in importing natural gas from the direction from which the raw material will flow in the future,” Piort Kasprzak Hermes Energy Group CEO said.
“However, the amendment to the Act on Mandatory Stocks of Fossil Fuels recently signed by President Andrzej Duda, which decisively changes the balance of power on the Polish natural gas market, significantly inhibits our development. Therefore, we decided to withdraw from the survey and not book any capacity on the Baltic Pipe,” he stated.
The open season procedure for Baltic Pipe was closed on 25 July. It confirmed there was sufficient demand for gas from the pipe. The second phase of the procedure will start at the beginning of September. It will enable companies to put forward binding bids for new capacities as part of the project.
Kasprzak stressed that it was possible that Baltic Pipe would be built in the next five years. He also pointed to the significant change in regulations that took place in only a year.
“This makes it impossible to make any long-term investment decisions. Therefore, there is no chance we will take part in the project,” he added.
At the beginning of July Hermes Energy Group wrote an open letter to Vice-Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, where the company warned against the negative implications of the Act on Mandatory Stocks of Fossil Fuels. It criticized the government and claimed that the obligation to book reserves discriminated against smaller entities, because the costs of gas storage were very high and uneconomic for independent companies. The bill will result in gas prices increase from 5 to 8%.
