Lithuanian LNG port looks to supply Poland, Ukraine via new pipe

KN Energies AB

08/04/2021 16:27

By Andrius Sytas
    VILNIUS, April 8 (Reuters) - Klaipeda's liquefied natural
gas (LNG) import terminal operator says its gas could reach
Poland, Ukraine and other countries south of Lithuania next
year, when a new pipeline comes online.
    The GIPL pipeline to Poland is due to be completed by
December and will also give Finland, Estonia and Latvia access
to LNG from continental Europe.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2KZ6KW
    "It's likely the GIPL pipeline will flow solely from
Lithuania to Poland", Mindaugas Navikas, Chief Sales Officer at
the terminal's operator Klaipedos Nafta  KNF1L.VL  (KN) told
Reuters in an interview.
    The link is designed to transport up to 21 terawatt-hours
(TWh) of gas per year to Poland, or 27 TWh to Lithuania.
    Arunas Molis, LNG director at KN said Poland, Ukraine and
other countries to the south of Lithuania were likely
destinations for gas from Klaipeda.
    No terminal capacities have been booked for supply via GIPL,
but Navikas said Orlen's  PKN.WA  decision to connect its 750 MW
gas-fired power plant directly to GIPL is a "positive signal".
    Lithuanian state-controlled energy company Ignitis Group
 IGN1L.VL , said last month it will start supplying LNG to
Poland next year via the pipeline.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2KZ6KW
    Russia's Gazprom  GAZP.MM  lost a third of its share of the
Finnish gas market last year, after a new pipeline made it
possible to import LNG from Klaipeda.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2J232A
    The Klaipeda terminal imported 21.9 TWh of LNG in 2020, just
over half of its annual capacity of 39 TWh.
    Klaipedos Nafta is now sounding out potential suppliers of
floating storage and regasification units (FSRU), ahead of Dec.
2024 when its 10-year lease on the current FSRU called
Independence, from Norway's Hoegh  HOEG.OL , runs out.
    It has secured financing from the Nordic Investment Bank of
up to 160 million euros for the purchase, and will launch a
tender in July.
    "We want a ship which is able to import as much LNG as the
current one, or more", Navikas said.  

 (Reporting by Andrius Sytas;
Editing by Alexander Smith)
 ((Andrius.Sytas@thomsonreuters.com; +370 682 74006; Reuters
Messaging: andrius.sytas.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))