Two miles off the coast of Gdańsk, the white steel piles of Poland’s first offshore gas terminal rise from the slate-grey Baltic. Installed at a height eight metres above the waves, the floating cranes and construction vessels here are on the frontline of Europe’s push for energy security. Since the taps were turned off on Russian gas after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago, Poland has turned to the global energy market for supplies.
But while conditions are far from ideal as the Middle East war drives oil and gas prices to stratospheric levels, strengthening the diversity of the country’s energy mix remains a top priority for Poland, its Baltic neighbours, and the EU at large. Looking out to sea from the windswept beach backed by pine forest, Maciej Wawrzkowicz, the offshore project manager at the national gas company Gaz-System, and the construction manager Krzysztof Polatynski say the Baltic is not an easy place to build. Before work could start, Polish navy minesweepers were called in to torpedo unexploded mines and bombs from the second world war.
Construction is halted by storms, while the sea froze over last winter. But speed is important in this project of international significance. And you are seeking for more.
Gdańsk harbour is a significant construction place right now.” Poland used to import more than half of its gas from Russia but refused to pay in rubles in 2022 as the Kremlin became a pariah in the west over Putin’s war on Ukraine. A Norwegian pipeline under the Baltic and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Świnoujście, close to the border with Germany, helped to keep most homes warm and the fires of industry burning. At Gdańsk the construction of the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) – a specialised marine vessel used to store and convert LNG – is planned to further bolster Poland’s booming economy.
But it will also increase the country’s capacity beyond domestic needs – turning it into a hub for eastern Europe and its Baltic neighbours. Poland has LNG regasification capacity of 8.3bn cubic metres a year. Once the FRSU is operational in early 2028, that will add 6.1bn cubic metres a year of additional capacity.
A second vessel at the Gdańsk FRSU is also planned for 2030 to lift total capacity to more than 20bn cubic metres a year. In an age of geopolitical challenges, the FSRU vessel also has a symbolic name: “Solidarity”, in a nod to its home port’s history, and Poland’s drive to strengthen EU ties in the face of Russian aggression. In the 1980s, as the Soviet Union crumbled, strikes at Lenin shipyard in Gdańsk over communist rule launched Poland’s Solidarność (Solidarity) movement.
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