CTK
Has been updated 25 minutes ago
A new gas pipeline connecting Poland and Slovakia will enable diversification of natural gas supply in Europe. Prime Ministers Mateusz Morawiecki and Eduardo Hager of both countries called the project a step towards increasing energy security at the opening ceremony of the gas pipeline connection. According to an earlier statement by Prime Minister Petr Fiala, the Czech Republic is also planning a direct connection with a gas pipeline from Poland.
“We are delighted to have completed this exceptional investment. This is a strategic gas pipeline,” said Morawiecki.
The new gas pipeline, which will cover most of Slovakia’s annual gas consumption, will provide an alternative to raw material supplies from Russia, Heger said.
Eustream says that for Slovakia and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the new pipeline will mean access to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in the Polish city of Svinosti and Klaipeda, Lithuania, as well as a Baltic pipe from Norway. Stated. Poland, on the other hand, will get access to gas from Southern Europe, North Africa or the Caucasus through new gas pipelines.
“The gas pipeline connecting Poland and Slovakia has been a great success for the energy security of Central and Eastern Europe. Its completion is an important signal before the heating season approaches, supplying our market It opens up new possibilities for the future.” According to the Slovak semi-state company Eustream Rastislav Ňukovič, this has also been made possible thanks to the continued support of private and state shareholders.
The company transports gas in Slovakia and is owned and controlled by businessman Daniel Křetínský of the Energetický a průmyslový holding group.
Construction of the approximately 164-kilometre-long gas pipeline, financed by the European Union, began in 2018. Initial plans assumed that the pipeline would already be in commercial operation at the end of last year.
A two-way gas pipeline between Slovakia and Poland connects the Veľké Kapušany compressor station in southeastern Poland and eastern Slovakia, where there is also a transit gas pipeline from Ukraine to Western Europe.
The capacity of the new gas pipeline connection from Poland to Slovakia will be 5.1 billion cubic meters of gas per year, and in the opposite direction it will be possible to transport 6.1 billion cubic meters of raw materials. Data are measured at a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. Capacity varies with temperature.
Slovakia primarily purchased Russian gas. After Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February, Bratislava announced plans to reduce its dependence on Russia: the state-owned Slovak gas company SPP has also started purchasing Norwegian gas and her LNG.
After the outbreak of war, the European Commission also announced plans to reduce the European bloc’s dependence on Russian gas. As recently as her 2020, Russia provided almost 40% of her EU gas consumption.
Wholesale prices for the European market exceeded €300 per MWh on Thursday. The reason behind the ever higher gas prices in Europe is precisely this shortage of raw materials linked to the armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Prime Minister Fiala said in July that the Czech Republic was also planning a direct gas pipeline connection from Poland. At the end of April, he criticized the previous government, Andrei Babis, for not providing sufficient political support for the Czech-Polish gas pipeline project Stork II. Babiš rejects Fial’s criticism, pointing out that the Poles have lost interest in building Stork II gas his pipeline.
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