Amber Grid, the gas transmission system operator implementing the gas pipeline project connecting Lithuania and Poland, has received confirmation from the State Territorial Planning and Construction Inspectorate that the first stage of GIPL construction has been completed properly and the quality of the pipeline complies with legal requirements.
“It has been officially confirmed that the first 73-kilometer section of the GIPL gas pipeline, starting in Jauniūnai, is suitable for safe operation and transmission of the planned maximum capacity. This means that this section of the connection can already serve as a full-fledged part of the Lithuanian gas transmission system. Without deviating from the plan, we continue to install the pipeline. We estimate that it is left to weld the last 16 kilometers of the pipeline and to accomplish the construction of the Santaka gas metering and pressure limiting station. Until the end of the project implementation in December of this year, the planned works of installation of technological equipment and connection of the pipeline to the gas system will be carried out,” says Nemunas Biknius, CEO of Amber Grid.
In parallel, the documents on the organization of the procedures for the completion of the second phase of the GIPL gas transmission connection are being finalized. The GIPL second phase construction completion act is scheduled to be received by the end of April.
At present, 149 kilometres of the pipeline from Širvintos to Lazdijai district have been welded. At the same time, the construction of the Santaka gas metering and pressure regulation station, an important element of the GIPL project near the Lithuanian-Polish border, is underway.
After testing in February the part of the pipeline built and installed to Alytus at maximum capacity, 102 kilometres of the pipeline were filled with natural gas. The total length of the GIPL pipeline is 165 km.
The gas pipeline extending from Širvintos district to the Lithuanian-Polish state border in Lazdijai district has been built by a huge force of contractors from January 2020. Every day, several teams of contractors Alvora and Šiaulių dujotiekio statyba work on the pipeline construction sites.
The GIPL gas pipeline will connect the gas markets of Lithuania, the Baltic States and Finland with the European Union. The pipeline will allow to receive gas from various sources, to use the Lithuanian gas transmission system and the Klaipėda LNG terminal more efficiently, and in the future to ensure biomethane and hydrogen flows in the region. The GIPL connection will be able to transport up to 27 TWh of gas per year in the direction of the Baltic States, and up to 21 TWh per year in the direction of Poland.
