Budimex is finalizing work on the Goleniów-Ciecierzyce gas pipeline, the longest section of the onshore part of the Baltic Pipe system, informed the company that is the general contractor of the 122 km section of the gas pipeline. Its start-up and gasification are planned for the summer.

The investment provides for the construction of a gas pipeline with a diameter of 1000 mm and an operating pressure of 8.4 MPa on the section from the Goleniów compressor station to the Ciecierzyce lock station. In addition, it is planned the reconstruction of the Goleniów compressor station, the construction of the Kolonia Kiczarowo linear shut-off and relief complex with bypass systems, the construction of the Przywodzie and Buszów linear shut-off and relief units, along with additional infrastructure systems, a system for active anti-corrosion protection of the gas pipeline, and its gasification and commissioning.

The company is planning to carry out a technical acceptance together with the investor, the operator of the gas transmission system Gaz-System, in June which is a month before the contractual deadline. The gasification and commissioning of the section will be performed in June and July, and the occupancy permit should be obtained in July.

There were many engineering challenges during the work including avoiding ground obstacles, such as rivers or roads, requiring 55 trenchless crossings, microtunnelling with drilling and jacking methods, and 4 crossings using the latest Direct Pipe technology. This is how the boreholes under the rivers Ina, Pełcz and Krąpiel and the longest in Poland – under the Warta – with a length of 1400 m were made.

The Baltic Pipe gas pipeline will create a new route of natural gas supplies from Norway to the Danish and Polish markets to end-users in neighbouring countries. The gas pipeline will be able to send a maximum of 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually to Poland and 3 billion cubic meters from Poland to Denmark. The investors are transmission operators: Danish Energinet and Polish Gaz-System. According to the plans, the transmission route will start operating on October 1, 2022, and reach full capacity at the beginning of 2023.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński