oland unlikely to approve new German gas link, does not diversify sources - Econ Ministry

Poland is unlikely to be interested in a proposal to create a gas pipeline link between Germany and Poland, which is slated to be presented Wednesday by German gas companies BASF and Wingas Transport, because it does not fit the country's energy diversification strategy, according to the Polish Economy Ministry."A link between Polish and German gas pipelines is not diversification because it just redirects gas coming from the east," Polish Economy Minister Piotr Wozniak told reporters on the sidelines of the Polish-British Conference on Bio-energy, organized by the Polish Economy Ministry.

"This is another technical solution, while we want to get gas from sources other than eastern ones," he said.
Wingas and BASF are to present a potential gas pipeline link plan, which would see Poland obtain gas from a German gas pipeline that transports gas to the Czech Republic, according to Polish media reports. Wingas is a joint venture between Wintershall AG - a subsidiary of BASF - and Russian gas giant Gazprom.

Poland has been desperately seeking new gas sources in the wake of the German-Russian-backed Nord Stream Baltic Sea gas pipeline project, which will link Russia and Germany directly - and which the Polish government feels could endanger Polish energy security by allowing Russia to supply business partners in the EU while leaving Poland out of the loop. Thus a political crisis could see Poland cut off from gas supplies with no risk to other countries in the EU.

Wozniak repeated that the driver behind Polish gas policy remains diversification of gas supply sources, based on two projects: the gas pipeline linking Poland and Norwegian gas fields and the ongoing LNG terminal project in Swinoujscie.

Wozniak added that neither Wingas, nor BASF, have presented the German gas link project to the Economy Ministry.

"We have not received any official proposal from these companies," Wozniak said.
Source:wiadomosci.onet.p