Offshore pipeline through the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea
Basic parameters and description of the project:
  • high pressure gas pipeline,
  • diameter 900 mm
  • length: approx. 275 km
The pipeline was built with 12.2 m long welded pipe sections which was laid on the seabed or buried. The offshore infrastructure end a few hundred metres beyond the beach, cliff and dunes, where it is connected with the onshore part. The connection of the offshore and onshore parts of the pipeline is called the “first dry weld” and marks the boundary between the two sections. The gas pipeline landfall section was drilled under the sea bed, beach and dunes.

For this purpose, microtunneling method was used, which means that the gas pipeline run underground in a concrete casing. Thanks to this method, the seashore and the dunes will not be affected and the development will not cause any significant limitations for access to the beach.
 
Project status:
The investment has been completed.

Project route and location:

The offshore part on the Baltic Sea bed passes through the territories of three countries: Denmark, Poland and Sweden. 
Mapa gazociągu Baltic Pipe na dnie Morza Bałtyckiego

Benefits

The new pipeline provide the capacity to off take incremental gas volumes from the Baltic Pipe offshore pipeline and the LNG Terminal in Świnoujście. The investment optimise the capacity of the Polish transmission system and constitute an important link of the North-South Gas Corridor in Europe.

Furthermore, the completion of the Baltic Pipe Project, of which this project makes part, strengthen Poland’s energy security. The construction of new transmission infrastructure also stimulate the development of the gas market and its competitiveness.

The municipalities where the gas pipeline was built will benefit significantly from the taxes to be paid annually by GAZ-SYSTEM.

Contractors

The investor’s supervision will be provided under framework agreements signed with three companies – Brunel Energy Europe BV, Nova People AS and Premier Technical Resources Ltd.

The contractor for construction and installation works is Saipem Limited and Ramboll Danmark A/S was selected to provide environmental supervision during the construction.

Legal basis

The project was implemented on the basis of the provisions of the Act of 24 April 2009 on investments in regasification terminal for liquefied natural gas in Świnoujście (for consolidated text see Journal of Laws of 2021, item 1836).

Co-financing by the European Union:

The investment has received funding from the European Union under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme.

Project of Common Interest (PCI)

The European Commission has granted the PCI (Project of Common Interest) status to the project. More information on the significance of the PCI status for the development of gas transmission infrastructure can be found in the  dedicated section on PCI projects.

While implementing its investment projects GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. respects the rights of all interested parties. You are encouraged to send comments and questions concerning any project which was granted the PCI status using the Form for questions and comments concerning the implementation of projects with PCI status by GAZ- SYSTEM.

Administrative decisions

On 25 October 2019, Denmark's Minister for Climate and Energy issued a decision related to the location of an offshore pipeline within the Danish marine areas. The permit covers both offshore sections of the Baltic Pipe. The first runs from the coastline of Faxe Bay to the border of the Swedish maritime area, and the second from the Swedish maritime area, through Danish waters around the island of Bornholm, to the border of Polish territorial waters. The total length of both sections of the Denmark gas pipeline will be about 133 kilometres.

On 25 November 2019, the Regional Director of Environmental Protection in Szczecin issued an environmental decision for the offshore gas pipeline located in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea. The landfall of the gas pipeline will be located in the vicinity of Niechorze and Pogorzelica villages in the Rewal municipality, in Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship. Another decision was issued on 9 January 2020 by the Zachodniopomorski Voivode and concerns the location of the Polish part of the offshore gas pipeline.

In Poland, the building permit for the offshore part of the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline was issued by the Zachodniopomorski Voivode on 22 April 2020.

Meanwhile, the building permit for the construction of the Baltic Pipe within the Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone in the Baltic Sea was issued on 7 May 2020 by the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation in Sweden.

Completed laying the offshore section of the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline (PL)