The coastal town of Warszow in the port city of Swinoujscie is home to Poland’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) warehouse, considered the best fulcrum for the country to escape dependence on Russian energy.
Before fighting broke out in Ukraine, Russia was the supplier of 40% of the European Union’s (EU) gas.
The Kaczynski LNG warehouse at Swinoujscie port is an indispensable part to replace supply cuts, after Russian energy corporation Gazprom announced it would stop sending gas to Poland from April.
Kaczynski gas warehouse at Swinoujscie port, Poland in May. Photo: Reuters.
Kaczynski gas depot workers are busy installing a third storage tank linked to the wharf half a kilometer away.
Starting operation in 2016, this storage facility cost more than 765 million USD to build.
Like the rest of Europe, Poland is gradually abandoning coal power plants, but domestic gas consumption is growing rapidly, possibly reaching 30 billion cubic meters a year, equivalent to heating 9 million homes.
Jozef, a 60-year-old taxi driver from Swinoujscie, said Germany was also building LNG terminals on the border with Poland, but declared `we will beat them`.
Location of the Polish port city of Swinoujscie (red dot), on the Baltic coast.
Poland is working with Lithuania, Ukraine, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to supply excess gas to neighboring countries, in an effort to create a regional gas hub.
`Poland will have to play an important role in the EU’s efforts to eliminate Russian gas imports,` said Henning Gloystein, director of energy, climate and resources at Eurasia Group.
Gloystein added that the immediate priority is to replace the nearly 10 billion cubic meters of gas that Poland once received from Russia.
`This pipeline, along with LNG imports, will help ensure supply. In the long term, Poland will have to do more with new energy sources as it cuts its dependence on coal to reach
Slovakia, which is almost completely dependent on Russian gas, and the Czech Republic pledged to support Poland’s Kaczynski LNG terminal.
Level of EU energy import dependence.
`Germany bets on Russian gas and is racing to be able to supply enough gas to its market now and in the future, when it is not known whether it can still rely on supplies from Russia or not. Energy policy
Ms Mikulska said potential plans to make Germany the gas hub of Central and Eastern Europe were no longer realistic.
In March, the Polish government provided more than $663 million to the gas storage operator in Swinoujscie.
Although the storage facility has become part of the European Union’s 2022 list of projects of common interest, not everyone is optimistic about the prospect of Poland becoming the EU’s gas hub.
Albrecht Rothacher, a former German diplomat in the EU, believes that the prospect of Poland becoming a regional gas hub is exaggerated.