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Polish Briefing 12 March, 2019 9:00 am   
COMMENTS: Mateusz Gibała

Polish Briefing: Nord Stream 2 in 2022? It’s not science fiction

What goes on in Poland on the 12th of March.

Kubiak: Nord Stream 2 in 2022? It’s not science fiction

The ending territorial dispute between Poland and Denmark opens a new possibility of the Nord Stream 2 route through the Danish territory. According to Mateusz Kubiak from the consulting company Esperis, because of the Danish administration activities, Nord Stream 2 can only be created in 2022, when the gas corridor from Norway from Denmark to Poland – Baltic Pipe – will also be ready.

As the Politikien daily writes, the Danish Energy Agency may soon ask the project implementer (Nord Stream 2 AG) to submit a third application, this time running through the gray zone of the Baltic Sea between Poland and Denmark until recently. This may extend the construction process, which was expected to end at the end of this year.

Mateusz Kubiak tells BiznesAlert.pl that Denmark has the instruments to realistically delay the Nord Stream 2 application process. – At the moment, the Danes have still not issued a permit for the construction of a gas pipeline in Danish waters (in any of the two consulted proposals) and it seems a scenario in which Danish offices may request an analysis of the third variant of the Nord Stream 2 course. This option will appear at the moment when the agreement signed by Poland and Denmark will enter into force on the delimitation of the disputed maritime area between both countries (the so-called gray zone) – he emphasizes.

In his opinion, the Danes may request a study of the new Nord Stream 2 route. This would mean that the preparation of all necessary tests should take up to next year. – If the course of the gas pipeline through the former “gray zone” would turn out to be the most beneficial, then a new consultation process would begin. This in turn would result in a further delay of the project and, of course, a huge increase in costs. It is difficult to forecast accurate dates today, but the scenario in which Nord Stream 2 is created, for example, in 2022 is not currently a gas science fiction – he ends.