Amid war in Ukraine, work resumes on Poland-Norway gas pipeline
Work has resumed on a pipeline in Denmark that will connect Poland to Norway's gas fields and help Warsaw reduce its dependence on Russian imports.
Construction was suspended last May due to an issue with its environmental permit.
But barely a week after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Danish environmental authority -- which was particularly concerned about the project's impact on local species of mice and bats -- granted a permit to continue works.
"We expected it to be approved soon, but of course, the war has made the issue more urgent," said Trine Villumsen Berling, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies.
Begun in 2018, the 900-kilometre pipeline should now enter service in October, before being fully operational on 1 January 2023.
"It's also about having the gas in the Danish system, but above all to help the gas system of our good neighbours and Polish friends," Søren Juul Larsen, project manager at the Danish operator Energinet, told AFP news agency.
"We really have good cooperation with all the contractors to speed up, do everything we can to keep to the schedule."
With an annual transport capacity of 10 billion m3 of gas, the gas pipeline should make it possible to guarantee half of the consumption of Poland, which announced three years ago the end in 2022 of its vast contract with the Russian giant Gazprom.
But this good news for Warsaw could complicate supplies for the rest of Europe.
Norway, Europe's second-largest gas supplier after Russia, is producing at full capacity and the gas arriving in Poland will therefore no longer be sold in Western Europe.
"This project should help Poland, but could lead to a decrease in Norwegian gas exports to the United Kingdom and Germany," said Zongqiang
Read more on euronews.com
