Lithuania, Poland set to begin laying gas pipeline in 2016
VILNIUS. Feb 10 (Interfax/BNS) - Polish gas-distribution outfit Gaz-System and Lithuania's Lietuvos dujos could begin building a gas pipeline that will link the two countries in 2016, the director of the Gaz-System development and investment department, Rafal Wittmann, said at a Friday press conference in Vilnius.
Preliminary calculations put the investment needed at over EUR 470 million. Expectations are that the European Commission will finance from 60% to 70% of the project.
Wittmann said the new gas pipeline will increase the reliability of gas delivery and expand gas market opportunity.
The pipeline will run for 562 kilometers. "On the Polish side of the gas pipeline connection it will be around 300 km," Gaz-System management board member Slawomir Sliwinski said.
The company is in principle ready to start building the pipeline, Sliwinski said. "A final decision will be made when the research is finished, an analysis of economic benefit is done, and EC financing is provided," he said.
Hypothetically, the new pipeline will be transporting up to 2.3 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Wittmann expressed concerns about the project's implementation. In his view, he said, the liquefied gas terminals Lithuania and Latvia plan to build will make the project for connecting Lithuania and Poland by gas pipeline risky.
"We don't want to say that a gas connection like this will become unneeded, but the investment will be more risky. And it's possible that much European Commission investment will be required," he said. "The gas connection project is more beneficial than a terminal," he said.