The Polish-Lithuanian gas interconnection (GIPL) has been officially opened. The gas pipeline has been transporting gas to Poland since May 1 this year. “We know that gas has been flowing for several days and this time the proverb “A Pole is wise after the damage has been done” was not true. Together with our neighbours and the European Commission, we turned out to be wise before the damage. A few days ago, the Russians blocked gas supplies to Poland. We had seen such actions in Ukraine before and we decided to protect ourselves then”, said Polish President Andrzej Duda.

“The GIPL interconnector connects Poland and Lithuania. It gives an additional connection, additional diversification of directions and sources, and additional security, and we also strengthen ties between countries. Today, gas is flowing to Poland and this is the best response to Russia’s actions, such as cutting off supplies to Poland and Bulgaria”, said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda during the ceremony.

The Latvian President Egils Levits, who was present at the opening ceremony of the gas pipeline, emphasized that in order to get rid of energy blackmail, the region must increase its energy independence.

“This gas pipeline will connect us with the rest of Europe – gas can flow in both directions”, said the Latvian leader.

On May 1, the Lithuanian operator of the natural gas transmission network, Amber Grid, announced the launch of the Poland-Lithuania connection, which was built together with the Gaz-System. The length of the gas pipeline connecting the transmission systems of both countries is 508 km. It also connects both countries with the systems of Latvia, Estonia and Finland.

Over the next five months, the transmission capacity of the pipeline from Lithuania to Poland will reach 217,000 cubic meters per hour. This corresponds to 1.9 billion cubic meters per year. The gas transmission capacity from Poland to Lithuania will be 230,000 cubic meters per hour, which corresponds to 2 billion cubic meters per year.

Polish Gas Transmission Operator Gaz-System is a strategic company for the Polish economy, responsible for the transmission of natural gas and the management of the most important gas pipelines in Poland.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński