On September 6, 2019 GAZ-SYSTEM initiated construction of the Polish part of the Poland-Slovakia gas interconnector. The gas pipeline will connect the gas node in Strachocina (Podkarpackie Voivodeship) with the Slovak compressor station in Veľké Kapušany.
The Poland-Slovakia gas interconnection project covers the extension of the internal transmission network in south-eastern Poland and the construction of a gas node in Strachocina and metering station near the Polish-Slovak border. It is executed jointly by the Polish gas transmission system operator GAZ-SYSTEM and the Slovak EUSTREAM. The inaugural ceremony was held in the headquarters of the Museum of Oil and Gas Industry named after Ignacy Łukasiewicz in Bóbrka.
“Construction of the Poland-Slovakia gas interconnection will foster Poland’s independence from the dominant Eastern supplier of this raw material. In combination with the Baltic Pipe and the extended President Lech Kaczyński LNG Terminal in Świnoujście, this investment project will ensure Poland’s energy security and contribute to the creation of a fully competitive gas market in this part of Europe,” emphasized Piotr Naimski, Polish Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure, in the congratulatory letter.
The entire connection, across both the Polish and Slovak sides, will be 165 km long. The capacity towards Poland will be 5.7 billion m3 annually whereas that towards Slovakia will be 4.7 billion m3 annually. The gas pipeline diameter will be 1000 mm, with an operating pressure of 8.4 MPa.
“GAZ-SYSTEM consistently implements a strategy aiming principally at the creation of an integrated European gas market. The Poland-Slovakia Gas Pipeline, whose construction starts today, is another large investment project implemented by the Company. We want to join the Central European markets to give access to various gas sources to our customers. This will influence the accessibility and competitiveness of prices of the blue fuel in the region,” said Tomasz Stępień, CEO of GAZ-SYSTEM.
Rastislav Ňukovič, CEO of EUSTREAM, also stressed the importance of regional cooperation. “I am positive that our project will help to open the gas market of Central and Eastern Europe to new trade possibilities,” he said.
The investment project agreement was concluded on July 19, 2019 with a consortium of companies composed of Budimex Mostostal and Mostostal Kraków. Construction works will commence in September 2019.
The connection of the Polish and Slovak transmission systems was included in the list of projects of common interest (PCI) adopted by the European Commission in November 2017 under the priority corridor North-South gas interconnections in Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe (NSI East Gas).
The project was co-financed by EU funds under the TEN-E (Trans-European Energy Networks) and CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) programs. The support covered analytical, design and construction works carried out in Poland and Slovakia. The key project co-financing agreements were signed by GAZ-SYSTEM and EUSTREAM with the EU’s Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) in 2015 (design works) and 2017 (construction works).
Gaz-System