Poland will expand its Lech Kaczyński LNG Terminal to increase its gasification capacity; starting in 2024 the terminal will import 8.3 Bcm a year.
The announcement came following a $483-million deal between GAZ-SYSTEM’s Polskie LNG unit in Świnoujście and a consortium of PORR and TGE Gas Engineering. GAZ-SYSTEM is a gas transmission operator.
The expansion deal comes less than a month after Polskie LNG, operator of the terminal, and Polish Oil and Gas (PGNiG) signed an agreement for services which will be available after completion of the expansion.
The expansion includes the onshore and offshore part of the LNG terminal. The scope of the agreement covers development of the design documentation, performance of construction and erection works, commissioning of the system, and acquisition of required permits.
Polskie LNG will oversee construction of an 180,000-cm-capacity LNG tank and performance of the new berth for LNG loading, unloading, and bunkering. The Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaport Authority will handle construction of the hydrotechnical part of the berth, hydrotechnical infrastructure for the transmission pipe rack, and complete mooring infrastructure.
Poland state officials said the extension will strengthen the country’s energy security and diversify its supply of energy resources to other European countries. The project will be part of a wider program of strategic sea investments—such as the Baltic Pipe Project, the North-South Gas Corridor, and the Poland–Lithuania gas interconnectors—which will increase the country’s potential in the Baltic region.
Reuters said state-run PGNiG does not plan to extend its long-term gas-supply deal with Russia’s Gazprom beyond 2022; it plans to replace Russian gas with LNG and pipeline gas from Norway.