BRUSSELS, Sept 27 (KUNA) -- The Baltic Pipe, a natural gas pipeline, was inaugurated Tuesday at an opening ceremony in Goleniw, Poland.
The event marks the end of the process of the Baltic Pipe construction, a key route to carry gas from Norway through Denmark to Poland and neighbouring countries, said the European Commission in a statement.
The Baltic Pipe will make it possible to import up to 10 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas annually from Norway to Poland and to transport three bcm of gas from Poland to Denmark. The start of gas transmission is planned for 1 October 2022.
The project, supported by the Trans-European Networks for Energy, enhances the diversification of gas supply in Central-Eastern Europe and the Baltic States by opening a new import route from the North Sea to the EU.
The Baltic Pipe has been a Project of Common Interest since 2013 and has received around 267 million euro (USD 257 million) of EU funding to help complete the preparatory studies and construction works necessary for this project.
EU Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, said: "The Baltic Pipe is a key project for the security of supply of the region and the result of an EU policy drive to diversify sources of gas. The pipeline will play a valuable role in mitigating the current energy crisis." Meanwhile, in a related development, a spokesman for the European Commission today said the EU's executive body has been informed of three leaks in the Russian gas pipelines Nordstream 1 and 2.
"We are following developments very closely with member states concerned. This hasn't affected security of supply yet," EU energy spokesman Tim Mcphie, told a news conference in Brussels.
He noted that neither of the two pipelines are in operation at the moment.
"At this stage it is very premature to speculate the causes of the leaks," he added. (end) nk.ibi