Polskie LNG says GAZ-SYSTEM signed contract with Saipem Limited for the performance of works related to laying the gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea. The scope of this contract covers also the landfalls where the offshore part will be connected with the onshore components in Poland and Denmark. The contract value is approximately EUR 280 million.
The contract GAZ-SYSTEM signed with Saipem, the offshore Baltic Pipe contractor, means not only that the project obtained all the required construction permits in Denmark and Poland but also that the implementation stage has started. The Investors, both Polish GAZ-SYSTEM and Danish Energinet, hold signed agreements with the construction works contractors, having already procured pipes and other technical components necessary for the construction of new and extension of already existing compressor stations. Baltic Pipe, the project that is key for Poland's energy security and of importance to the European Union, is being implemented in strict accordance with the adopted schedule. Gas transmission from the Norwegian shelf to Poland along this new route will start on 1st October 2022 – said Piotr Naimski, the Secretary of State at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, the Governmental Plenipotentiary for Critical Energy Infrastructure.
- Signing this contract, together with the agreement for pipe supply already in place, is key for the implementation of the Baltic Pipe project. At present, we already have binding agreements with all the main contractors and suppliers necessary to start construction of the gas pipeline to connect the Danish and Polish shores – said Tomasz Stępień, President of GAZ-SYSTEM.
The contract covers the following main elements:
• construction of two microtunnels on the Danish and Polish shores (the technology will help protect the beaches, cliffs and other elements of the natural environment),
• transport of pipes from the marshalling yard to pipelay vessels,
• joining the pipes to form the pipeline and lowering it to the Baltic Sea bottom,
• pipeline installation and its stabilisation as well as the performance of all works to protect both the pipeline and its crossings with other subsea infrastructure,
• connecting the offshore pipeline with Baltic Pipe onshore components in Poland and Denmark,
• performance of tests, participation in commissioning of the offshore part as well as checking its functioning within the rest of the Baltic Pipe infrastructure in both countries.
According to the schedule, first works within Saipem’s scope will be commenced in the 2nd half of this year and, among other things, will consist in preparing landfall work sites in Poland and Denmark as well as beginning construction works necessary for microtunnelling.
It is also expected that the 2nd half of this year will see the start of activities at sea – launch of the pipeline pre-lay route surveys. Vessels preparing the seabed for pipeline installation will mobilise in the Baltic in the 1st half of next year. Pipelay as such will start in the summer of 2021. The pipeline handover for operation is planned in October 2022.
Saipem Limited was selected after a multi-stage competitive procurement procedure including, among other elements, negotiations with the bidders. The tender process took over a year and was preceded by the Request for Information procedure allowing preliminary reconnaissance of the possibilities of a number of companies operating in various parts of the world.
Complete set of construction permits has been obtained for all elements of the Polish onshore part: ca. 230 km of new pipelines as well as extension of two gas compressor stations and construction of a new one. The offshore part to be installed on the Baltic seabed will pass through the marine areas of three countries: Denmark, Poland and Sweden. Both Danish and Polish authorities have already approved construction of all the Baltic Pipe onshore and offshore components. The last of the required permits, for the pipeline section passing through the Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone, is expected in the next few months.
Last year, the European Commission granted, under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), nearly EUR 215 million for Baltic Pipe construction works. It was yet another example of EU support for the Baltic Pipe project and now it totals the maximum of EUR 266.8 million. The Baltic Pipe project has already been recognized by the European Commission as a "Project of Common Interest" (PCI) four times and has held this status since 2013.