Poland says it is analyzing Denmark's Baltic Pipe environmental permit withdrawal

The Polish government is analyzing Denmark's decision to withdraw the environmental permit for the Danish section of the 10 Bcm/year Baltic Pipe project, officials said June 4.

The pipeline will allow Poland to directly import Norwegian gas and end its decades-long dependence on Russian imports.

"It is in the interest of the Republic of Poland and the whole of Central Europe to complete this project as soon as possible and we are counting on the favor of the Danish government," deputy foreign minister Marcin Przydacz told Polish radio.

The head of the prime minister's office Michal Dworczyk told Polish TV that the project concerned Poland's "energy independence" and said the government was studying the decision.

On June 3, the Danish Environmental and Food Appeals Board repealed the environmental permit issued in July 2019 for the construction of the 210 km onshore pipeline across Denmark because the Danish Environmental Protection Agency did not sufficiently describe the measures taken to protect dormice, Nordic birch mice and bats, which are protected under EU rules.

The appeals board also said the remedial measures in the permit are insufficient to maintain the breeding and foraging areas of the animals.

"We are surprised by the ruling by the appeals board," Marian Kaagh, vice president for projects at the Danish natural gas transmission system operator, Energinet, said in a statement.

"We have been working on and implemented these measures to protect the animals. The appeals board has ruled that all of these measures should have been described more thoroughly before the permit was given," he said.

It would be impossible not to affect the areas where the work takes place, he said, "but we are fully committed to minimizing impact both to people and nature, and to secure good conditions for protected species during and after the construction of Baltic Pipe."

Energinet is now preparing a plan for a temporary shutdown of construction activities until the permit is in place.

The setback will likely delay the project, which was fully permitted with onshore construction work already underway. Poland's state-owned natural gas producer and distributor PGNiG has reserved 8.2 Bcm/year of the project's capacity.

Baltic Pipe was scheduled to be completed in October 2022, at the same time as PGNiG's long-term supply contract with Gazprom, under which it purchases up to 10.2 Bcm/year of gas, expires.

The Eur1.6-Eur2.1 billion ($1.94-$2.54 billion) Baltic Pipe investment is a joint venture between Energinet and its Polish counterpart, Gaz-System. Apart from the 210 km Danish onshore pipeline, the investment includes an offshore North Sea link to connect to Norway's Europe II pipeline and a 274 km Baltic Sea pipeline between Denmark and Poland.

Last month, Gaz-System said it was making the final preparations to begin laying the Baltic Sea section of the project.