Polish LNG terminal to be expanded
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
20.12.2018 09:00
The Świnoujście liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Poland's northwest will be expanded over the next several years, the terminal's operator, the Polskie LNG company, has said.
LNG terminal in the northwestern Polish port city of Świnoujście on the Baltic Sea. Photo: Maciek Kwiatkowski/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The company plans to build additional regasification installations by 2021 and a third storage unit as well as a railway trans-shipment station by 2023.
This is expected to increase the terminal’s annual import capacity to 7.5 billion cubic metres of LNG, up from the current 5 billion cubic metres.
Poland's annual natural gas usage is estimated at 17.5 billion cubic metres.
Expansion plans for the future also include an additional wharf for tankers.
Poland’s state-run gas giant PGNiG said on Wednesday it has finalised a 20-year contract for liquefied natural gas from US company Port Arthur LNG, the third such long-term deal with an American firm.
PGNiG last month signed a 24-year deal with American supplier Cheniere to buy liquefied natural gas from the United States as part of efforts to reduce the country’s dependence on Russian deliveries.
In October, PGNiG signed a long-term agreement with two American companies for the purchase of LNG from the United States as Poland strives to become independent of Russian supplies.
Under that deal with two subsidiaries of the US-based Venture Global LNG company, the Polish gas giant aims to import up to 2 million tonnes of LNG from the United States annually over 20 years, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported at the time, citing PGNiG’s CEO Piotr Woźniak.
Poland and the United States in September pledged to step up cooperation on energy projects as part of a joint declaration on strategic partnership.
Poland aims to stop importing natural gas from Russia after 2022, according to officials.
(tf/gs)