Over 300 meter long LNG carrier has transported 210 thousand square meters of gas from Qatar. The gas is now stored in LNG tanks in Świnoujście. Currently, the project is being launched for commercial transactions, which will be handled as from the second quarter of 2016. The second LNG supply for technology tests is planned in February.

 

The commodity is supplied by Qatargas Operating Company Limited. Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo acts as the agent under the contract with Polskie LNG, LNG terminal investor.

 

PGNiG will receive LNG supplies based on a contract signed for a term of twenty years, whereby Qatargas will provide 1 million tons of LNG a year to the Świnoujście terminal.

 

The LNG terminal, along with the dynamically expanded internal transmission network and inter-system connections, opens the door to the global gas market for Poland in addition to having a positive effect on LNG price competitiveness. The potential of the terminal makes us also a strong player in the game for energy independence of the entire region, concludes Jan Chadam, CEO, Gaz-System and Polskie LNG. Not only do we ensure energy security to ourselves but also the supply diversification opportunity to other European countries which will accelerate the process of development of a competitive gas market by combining their respective transmission systems, he adds.

 

LNG supplies are an important part of the strategy adopted by PGNiG, the primary objective of which is to diversify the supply portfolio. LNG imports will not only enable a more flexible response to changes in market conditions but also strengthen the energy security of Poland, notices Waldemar Wójcik, Vice-President, PGNiG.

 

Construction of the LNG terminal was launched in March 2011. The project, in which Polskie LNG invested more than PLN 3 billion, will enable the receipt of natural gas transported by sea from any location in the world in addition to the supply of as much as 5 billion square meters of gas a year to the Polish transmission network. This accounts for over 30 percent of the current annual demand of our country.

 

The terminal comprises a new breakwater, which is ca. 3 kilometers long, a quay with mooring lines where methane tankers with the load capacity of up to 217 thousand square meters may be unloaded, two cryogenic gas tanks (with the capacity of 160 thousand square meters each), regasification facilities and a pipeline of 85 kilometers, which connects the terminal with the Polish gas grid. The LNG terminal in Świnoujście is the only facility of this size in Northern and Central and Eastern Europe.

 

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