Poland’s natural gas transmission system operator OGP Gaz System S.A. is acquiring 100 percent of the share capital of Gas Storage Poland sp. z o.o., the operator of the natural gas storage system in the country, from Orlen SA.
The acquisition is conditional on the merger approval of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), Gaz System said in a news release. The financial details were not disclosed.
The acquisition will allow Gaz System “further responsibility in the management of strategic energy infrastructure in the gas market in Poland”, the company said. Responsibility for gas storage development in the new market model will be assigned to Gaz System, which is solely owned by Poland’s State Treasury.
Aside from operating the country’s gas transmission system, Gaz System also operates its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and the Polish section of the Yamal transit pipeline, which is part of an approximately 2,485.5-mile (4,000-kilometer) long gas pipeline running from Russia through Belarus and Poland to Western Europe.
“The takeover by Gaz System of the company that operates the underground gas storage facilities will enhance the oversight of the strategic gas infrastructure in Poland”, Gaz System President Sławomir Hinc said. “It will also improve cooperation between the transmission system operator and the storage system operator, which will also translate into greater security of gas supply to consumers and better utilization of the existing storage capacity and its expansion”.
The transaction follows the decision of UOKiK’s president regarding the merger of Orlen and Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo (PGNiG), according to the release.
Environmental Approval for FSRU Terminal Project
Meanwhile, Gaz System has obtained an environmental permit for its floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) terminal in the Gulf of Gdansk.
The Regional Director for Environmental Protection (RDOŚ) in Gdańsk issued an approval decision on the environmental conditions for the project, allowing the company to proceed with the project’s next steps, according to an earlier news release.
Gaz System will implement a number of measures to reduce the environmental impact of the FSRU terminal's construction and operation, including the trenchless crossing of Stogi beach for the gas pipeline connecting the FSRU Terminal with the onshore network. Further, the offshore section of the gas pipeline will be laid under the seabed, and the jetty itself will be located approximately 1.86 miles (three kilometers) from the shore, adjacent to the fairway leading to the Northern Port, keeping the terminal's impact on the landscape and potential noise to a minimum.
“In implementing our projects, we balance technological and environmental issues. Minimizing the impact on the natural environment is a priority in all our investments, in particular, those conducted in areas of such environmental value as the Gulf of Gdańsk”, Sławomir Hinc, President of the Gaz System Management Board, said. “We will therefore do our utmost to reduce the impact of the FSRU Terminal and the offshore gas pipeline on the environment and to preserve the landscape of this site”.
The FSRU will serve as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal and will be located at a mooring platform near the shore in the area of the Port of Gdańsk, between the mouths of the Vistula River branches, Śmiała and Martwa.
According to the company’s website, the FSRU terminal will be designed to provide regasification capacity of about 215.4 billion cubic feet (6.1 billion cubic meters) of gaseous fuel per year. The regasification capacity can also be increased depending on market development and growth in demand for natural gas in the country and region. In August 2023, the full regasification capacity of the FSRU terminal was booked for 15 years.
Gaz System operates major gas pipelines in Poland and the Baltic Pipe undersea gas pipeline. The company also controls the President Lech Kaczyński LNG Terminal in Świnoujście. As part of its 2015-2025 investment program, it is developing over 1,242.7 miles (2000 kilometers) of new gas pipelines in the western, southern, and eastern parts of Poland.
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