Important gas pipeline between Denmark and Poland

The Baltic Pipe connection will stretch from the Norwegian gas fields in the North Sea between Denmark and Poland. The gas pipeline is part of the new transport system from the gas pipeline Europipe II in the North Sea, and will cross Denmark to Poland, and make Denmark an important focal point. In collaboration with the Marine Institute in Gdansk, GEO, SMDI and GAZOprojekt, Ramboll will be responsible for environmental assessment, design, building permits and contractor tender documents – a contract worth a double-digit million euro figure.

The new gas pipeline, which is expected to be fully operational from April 2022, provides more supply routes and greater supply security not only in Denmark, Poland and Sweden, but also in other Central and Eastern European countries as well as Baltic countries. With a total investment budget of around EUR 2 billion and official support from the EU Commission, which has classified it as a PCI project (project of common interest), the Baltic Pipe is one of EU’s largest joint energy projects.

The Baltic Pipe project will employ more than 40 people from Ramboll over two years and involve experts from four different countries (Denmark, Poland, Sweden and Germany) and four business areas (Environment, Oil & Gas, Transport and Energy).

Reflecting on the choice of advisor, GAZ-SYSTEM emphasise the value of previous collaboration with Ramboll: “Our priority is timely and efficient construction of the offshore pipeline. We hope that our collaboration to date and the contractor’s know-how will contribute to successful completion of the entire undertaking,” says Tomasz Pietrasienski from GAZ-SYSTEM.

Ramboll is also looking forward to the project. “We are pleased and proud that we have won a project that will make a big difference to Europe’s future energy supply,” says Thorkild Feldthusen, Director, Environment and Health, Ramboll in Denmark. “We won the project because of our wide range of expertise across the organisation and our previous experience with major marine pipeline projects, such as the 482 km long Polarled gas pipeline crossing the northern polar circle.”

Particular focus on the marine environment
In addition to designing the gas pipeline, Ramboll will ensure that the building and authority approval is in place by 2020 when construction work begins. This requires extensive work in the form of conducting environmental impact studies. The purpose is to document the impact on the marine environment, specifically during construction of the gas pipeline, including geophysical and biological studies on a 1 km wide and around 300 km long trace along the seabed to describe where the environment could be impacted. At the same time the entire Polish coastal area is a protected natural area, which requires special attention in regard to landfalls.

Ramboll will investigate the environmental impact of different potential routes that cover Danish, Polish, Swedish and German waters, as well as several possible landfalls, and will advise on which route can be best realized technically with the least possible environmental impact.