Poland's gas grid operator Gaz-System has signed a Zloty 521.5 million ($137.6 million) contract with a consortium led by Polish builder Budimex to construct a gas pipeline to connect the Polish and Slovak grids.
Poland is expanding its cross-border gas transmission capacity to enable it to pursue its plan to become a regional gas trader once the 10 Bcm/year Baltic Pipe project is completed in October 2022, which will allow Poland to directly import Norwegian gas and LNG deliveries from the US start in earnest in 2023.
The 59 km Strachocina-Polish border pipeline and associated infrastructure will be built by the consortium, comprising Budimex, with a 94.46% stake, and Mostostal Krakow, with a 5.54% stake, Budimex said.
The pipeline is scheduled to be complete 31 months following the signing of the contract, Budimex said in a market filing.
In April, Gaz-System said it had taken the final investment decision with its Slovak counterpart Eustream to build the interconnector, which is an element of the EU-backed North-South Gas Corridor.
It will have a capacity to transmit 5.7 Bcm/year of gas to Poland and 4.7 Bcm/year of gas to Slovakia. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021.
On the Slovak side, a 106 km gas pipeline began construction in September last year in Velke Kapusany.
