Work began on the Slovak section of a cross-border gas pipeline in the town of Velké Kapušany to connect gas transmission systems of Poland and Slovakia.
Image: Work began on the Slovak section of a cross-border gas pipeline in the town of Velké Kapušany to connect gas transmission systems of Poland and Slovakia. Photo courtesy of GAZ-SYSTEM S.A.
The interconnector will link the gas compressor station, based in the Slovak town of Velké Kapušany, with the gas hub, located in the town of Strachocina, Podkarpackie Province, Poland.
The project has been jointly implemented by Gaz-System and Eustream, the Slovak company.
Gaz-System CEO Tomasz Stepien said: “Performance of the investment is considered a crucial element of the Gaz-System investment strategy. We have been implementing a complex diversification program that is supposed to enable Poland to vary routes and directions of gas deliveries.
“In addition, our goal is to integrate markets, so that the suppliers and recipients operating within this particular region could have an access to various gas sources.”
According to Stepien, the construction of the interconnector linking Poland and Slovakia complements the European Union (EU) infrastructural concept of the North-South Corridor.
He said that the implementation of the project will provide the states of the region with access to new gas delivery sources from the northern direction, such as the LNG Terminal in Swinoujscie or Baltic Pipe, and establish secure and competitive gas market in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Poland-Slovakia gas pipeline interconnector project also covers an extension of an internal transmission network in south-eastern Poland; construction of the gas compressor station in Strachocina; and establishing of the metering station near the Polish-Slovak border.
Construction on the 165km connection is expected to commence in mid-2019.
The into-Poland and into-Slovakia capacities amount to 5.7 billion m³/annually and 4.7 billion m³/annually, respectively.
The Poland-Slovakia project, intended to develop the gas market within the EU, has secured subsidies within the Trans-European Energy Networks (TEN-E) and Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programs for taking up analytic, design and construction works.
Gaz-System, Eustream and Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) signed co-financing agreements for design works in 2015 and for construction works in 2017.