Lithuania, Poland cross-border section of new gas link laid: Amber Grid

London — The gas grids of Lithuania and Poland have now been directly linked after the cross-border section of the under-construction interconnector between the two countries was laid, Lithuanian transmission system operator Amber Grid said Feb. 2.

The Lithuania-Poland interconnector will run for a total length of 508 km and will link the Baltic states with the rest of the EU market for the first time.

The pipeline -- which is expected to be completed by the end of 2021 and begin flows in 2022 -- will be able to supply gas in both directions, with a capacity of up to 2.4 Bcm/year for delivery to Lithuania and 1.9 Bcm/year to Poland.

"Laying the gas pipeline section across the Lithuanian-Polish border is another step toward interconnecting gas pipelines," Amber Grid CEO Nemunas Biknius said in a statement.

To date, a total of 126 km of the interconnector have been laid and welded in Lithuania out of the 165 km length in the country.

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Once complete, the project will allow for gas in the Polish grid from a number of sources to flow northward into Lithuania and on to other Baltic markets as well as Finland, which since the start of 2020 has been connected to Estonia via the Balticconnector pipeline.

In the other direction, Lithuania -- once dependent on gas imports from Russia -- can supply regasified LNG from its import facility at Klaipeda southward to Poland and into the rest of Europe.

"This project will not only integrate the Baltic and Finnish gas supply systems into the single EU gas market but will also increase gas trading liquidity in the areas of the said countries and enhance their regional roles," Amber Grid said.

The total cost of the Lithuanian section is estimated at Eur136 million ($163.40 million), while the overall project cost, including the longer Polish section, is estimated at around Eur500 million.