A US LNG company has already expressed interest in supplying a new Polish floating, storage and regasification unit planned to be build in Gdansk Bay, according to Jakub Przyborowicz, coordinator of the Brussels office at Gaz System, speaking on the sidelines of the 13th Annual European Gas and LNG Summit in Amsterdam on Monday.
The recently announced LNG project envisages a new 4.5 Bcm/year FSRU to be located in Gdansk Bay. The terminal -- to be built by Gaz System subsidiary Polskie LNG -- will add further regasification capacity to Poland's gas system, which is already relying on a 5 Bcm/year terminal in Swinoujscie and which will see this onshore terminal expand to 7.5 Bcm/year in 2023.
The officer added that a precise timeline for the project, including the date for a final investment decision, has not yet been set, with the company still evaluating whether to buy or rent a vessel that would serve as the FSRU. Completion of the project remains set for 2025.
The FSRU will be located in one of Poland's most industrialised areas and a lot of demand would come from industrial sites nearby, Przyborowicz said. But the project aims to supply the entire Central and Eastern European area, and it could be expanded further should more gas in the region be needed.
Gaz System is currently forecasting an increase of gas consumption in CEE from a current level of about 76 Bcm/year to 99 Bcm/year in 2040.
NEW INTERCONNECTORS UNDER WAY
Gaz System is carrying out plans to connect Poland's network to neighboring countries as a way to export regassified LNG. An interconnector with Slovakia and Lithuania are now under construction and completion is expected for 2021.
Two other interconnectors, one with Czech Republic and one with Ukraine are still at a pre-FID stage although the deadline for completion is set for 2023.
The Interconnector between Poland and Ukraine in particular would be necessary for fulfilling the trilateral memorandum of cooperation signed at the end of August by Poland, the US and Ukraine aimed at supplying Ukraine with US LNG via Poland. At the time of the memorandum, the three parties said flows of gas between Poland and Ukraine through the new interconnector would be possible from 2021 onwards but Przyborowicz told S&P Global Platts that the Poland-Ukraine Interconnector won't be ready before at least 2023.
"The problem with this project is that it's expensive. Poland on its side needs to build 1 and a half mile of new pipeline and one new compression station, but Ukraine needs to build a 99 km new gas pipeline, and that is expensive," Przyborowicz said.
Once ready, the Interconnector would allow the flow of 5 Bcm/year of gas in both directions, he added.
Poland has already been supplying gas to Ukraine via the Drozdowicz Interconnector Point, which is currently offering between 0.4 and 0.5 Bcm/y of transport capacity in the direction Poland to Ukraine, depending on the time of the year, Przyborowicz.
