EU to help finance Baltic Pipe gas link to Poland
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
15.04.2019 15:20
The European Union will provide EUR 215 million in funds to subsidise a planned gas link between Denmark and Poland under a deal signed in Brussels on Monday.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (right) and European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič (left) during the signing ceremony for an agreement on financing the Baltic Pipe Polish-Danish gas pipeline project in Brussels, Belgium, on Monday. Photo: EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
The Baltic Pipe gas link was earlier this year included in a list of European energy infrastructure projects that will be co-financed from EU coffers.
On Monday, the CEO of Polish gas grid operator Gaz-System, Tomasz Stępień, and the director of the EU’s Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), Dirk Beckers, signed a deal under which the EU will help finance the pipeline, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Those at the signing included Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who hailed the Baltic Pipe as a "breakthrough project" that would take Poland's energy security to the next level.
European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and EU Energy and Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete were among those attending the ceremony, the IAR news agency reported.
The EU funding will come from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the European support programme for trans-European infrastructure.
The European Commission has said that “the Baltic Pipe project, a new, bi-directional offshore gas interconnection between Poland and Denmark, will be crucial for security of supply and market integration of the region.”
Poland's Gaz-System and Danish firm Energinet in November formally decided to go ahead with plans to build a pipeline linking Poland with Norway via Denmark, according to reports.
The project to build the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline is part of Warsaw’s efforts to diversify gas supplies and reduce the country’s energy dependence on Russia.
Construction of the new pipeline is due to start next year and end by October 1, 2022, according to the IAR news agency.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR, europa.eu