Poland’s GAZ-SYSTEM and Ukraine’s Gas Transmission System Operator (GTSOU) have signed a long-term cooperation agreement, the Polish gas transmission operator announced on Thursday (16 March).
The agreement set out the principles and direction of building energy security and achieving a “leading position” for both operators in the regional natural gas market during the energy transition process.
“Poland wants to build its energy security in the region with the participation of Ukraine. Today, we initiated coordinated cooperation between key energy companies. We want to work together on the development and cooperation between our natural gas markets, as well as exchange experiences in the use of biomethane and hydrogen,” said Mateusz Berger, Poland’s Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure.
“Only by working together and combining our efforts, we can ensure independence from the energy supplies of the aggressor country. I am convinced that the signing of the Memorandum and its further implementation will be beneficial for both our countries,” said Yulia Pidkomorna, Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine.
The agreement will see joint action to ensure technical uninterrupted capacity towards Ukraine and obtain financial support from the EU in this regard. The operators declared that they would promote natural gas and work to enable the cross-border transmission of renewable gases. Both sides will also analyse the use of the existing LNG, transmission and storage infrastructure.
“The signing of the cooperation agreement will make it possible to take formal steps to integrate the gas markets of Poland and Ukraine. Thanks to this, the areas of cooperation between the two companies will be defined in accordance with the needs of the parties and the directions of further activities, both in the natural gas and renewable gas sectors,” said Marcin Chludziński, President of GAZ-SYSTEM. “The interconnectors launched last year by GAZ-SYSTEM, such as the Baltic Pipe or the connection with Lithuania and Slovakia, create new gas supply routes to Ukraine. We see opportunities to support the Ukrainian market also with LNG through the terminal in Świnoujście and the planned FSRU Terminal in Gdańsk.”
As part of the agreement, working groups and a common platform for the exchange of knowledge and scientific experience will be established. The role of the new groups will be to examine the possibility of transporting biomethane and hydrogen, including analysis of regulatory, technical and organisational aspects of both markets. The agreement also included plans for a future study of both transmission systems to examine the possibility of transmitting renewable gases for the needs of Poland and Ukraine.
