„The Phase I of the Open Season 2017 for the Baltic Pipe project has showed the interest in realization of the Baltic Pipe Project and confirmed the sufficient demand for gas transportation from the North Sea through Denmark and the Baltic Sea to Poland,” announced Gaz-System in a press release.
The operator of the Polish gas transmission network stated that on the basis of the result of the first phase of the Open Season 2017 initiated in June, the operators of the Danish and Polish gas transmission systems, Energinet and Gaz-System, decided to continue the Baltic Pipe project.
„Both TSO’s will now proceed with the necessary technical, environmental and economic studies and surveys in order to be able to initiate the construction of the gas pipeline if a positive in-vestment decision is taken in 2018,” the release continued.
„The next milestone in the Baltic Pipe Project is the initiation of the second, binding phase of the Open Season 2017, which will be launched on September 5, 2017,” said the release. Gaz-System wants this phase to end with signing 15-year contracts for capacity.
Open season
At the beginning of June 2017, the promoters of Baltic Pipe – Energinet.dk and Gaz-System announced the beginning of the Open Season Procedure where interested parties book capacity for the pipeline that is to be built by 2022. It has two phases.
The first one begun on 6 June 2017 when the Open Season Rule Book and other documents related to the procedure were published.
Norwegian Corridor
The Norwegian Corridor project, which will connect the Norwegian Continental Shelf via Denmark with the Polish seaside, includes five elements:
A gas pipeline from the Norwegian system in the North Sea to the Danish tie-in, which will connect Denmark with Norway and enable gas transmission,
– Expansion of existing capacity in the Danish land-based transmission system
– A submarine pipeline from Denmark to Poland, together with a terminal
– A compressor station,
– Expansion of the Polish transmission system
The project’s feasibility study, which was prepared at the end of 2016, pertains to the analysis of the construction of the Baltic Pipe (10 bcm capacity) and the other parts of the Norwegian Corridor. According to Gaz-System and Energinet.dk the investment should be completed by 2022.