The Danish national transmission system operator, Energinet notified the gas market that the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline can be commissioned at full capacity from the end of November 2022, more than one month ahead of schedule. Parts of the large-scale construction have been delayed, but the Baltic Pipe will still be operational with partial capacity from 1 October.
In the process, the Baltic Pipe project faced several major challenges. In May 2021, the Danish Environmental and Food Appeals Board overruled the Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental permit, which was issued in 2019. Some of the construction work was then shut down for nine months until a new environmental permit was issued in March 2022.
The delay meant that Energinet then planned to commission Baltic Pipe with partial capacity from 1 October and with full capacity of up to 10 billion cubic metres (bcym) of gas annually from 1 January 2023.
“Like everybody else, we have also been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the geopolitical situation in Europe. On top of that, bad weather has hit Baltic Pipe hard during some periods. On this background, we are pleased to announce that a major part of the vast project has been completed and is ready for use. Due to an extraordinary effort on the part of everyone involved, we were able to lay the remaining pipelines faster than expected. Full commissioning can therefore take place ahead of time,” said Torben Brabo, Energinet’s Director of International Relations.
Energinet’s part of the large-scale project consists of 105 km pipeline in the North Sea, approximately 210 km pipeline underground across Denmark, an expansion of the receiving terminal in Nybro near Varde and a new compressor station at Everdrup in Southern Zealand.
The Baltic Pipe project is a strategic infrastructure project aimed at creating a new gas supply corridor on the European market. The pipeline will allow the transport of gas from Norway to the Danish and Polish markets, as well as to end-users in neighbouring countries. At the same time, the Baltic Pipe Project will also enable the supply of gas from Poland to the Danish market.
The project is an important milestone in Europe’s s efforts to become independent from Russian gas. The Baltic Pipe will be capable of carrying 10 bcm of gas a year to Poland and 3 bcm from Poland to Denmark.
