Gas Transmission Operator Gaz-System, a strategic company for the Polish economy, responsible for the transmission of natural gas and the management of Poland’s most important gas pipelines – and Slovak operator Eustream have announced that the Poland-Slovakia gas interconnector is ready for commercial operation.
The capacity of the new interconnection point on the border between Poland and Slovakia will be made available through an auction on 11 November 2022 for the gas day starting from 12.11.2022 at 06:00.
The Poland-Slovakia interconnector will enable gas transmission of 5.7 bcm (annualised) towards Poland and 4.7 bcm towards Slovakia. Thanks to the connection, Poland gains infrastructural access to gas sources located in Southern Europe, North Africa and the Caucasus area. Slovakia gains access to gas from the Baltic Pipe (Norwegian shelf), the LNG Terminal in Swinoujscie and the LNG Terminal in Klaipeda, Lithuania.
The European Commission granted the investment the status of ‘Project of Common Interest’ (PCI) in October 2013 and has maintained it in subsequent biennial lists. The project was financed by European Union under the TEN-E (Trans-European Energy Networks) and CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) programmes.
The support included the execution of study, design and construction works in Poland and Slovakia. The most important project funding agreements were signed by Gaz-System under the Connecting Europe Facility with the EU’s Climate, Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (CINEA) in 2015 for design work amounting to EUR 582,571 thousand and in 2017 for construction work amounting to EUR 45,327 million.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński