U-Turn on Strategic Pomeranian Investment: Government and PERN Revise Pipeline Plans

The Polish government and PERN have revised plans for a second line of the Pomeranian Pipeline due to shifting geopolitical realities, though the strategic project has not been entirely abandoned.

Shift in Plans for the Pomeranian Pipeline

The original justification for constructing the second line of the Pomeranian Pipeline has become outdated in the face of new geopolitical realities. As Deputy Energy Minister Konrad Wojnarowski reported, this does not mean, however, that the PERN company is completely abandoning the investment. The future of the strategic project will be decided by market changes and Poland’s energy security issues.

The earlier rationale for building the second line of the Pomeranian Pipeline is no longer current, but this does not mean abandoning the execution of this investment in the future, informed Deputy Energy Minister Konrad Wojnarowski. Potential execution is to depend on changing market conditions.

Why the Original Assumptions Lost Validity

The Pomeranian Pipeline was commissioned in 1975 to supply oil to both Polish refineries and refineries in eastern Germany. Belonging to the PERN company, the pipeline connects the company’s bases in Gdańsk and Miszewko Strzałkowskie near Płock.

In response to a parliamentary interpellation, Wojnarowski pointed out that the original assumptions for the project to build the second line of the Pomeranian Pipeline, developed about 10 years ago, assumed a significant role for oil supplies from the east and the operation of the transmission system in the east–north–south relation.

These, however, are not reflected in current market and geopolitical realities. The main direction of crude oil supplies to Poland is the north, utilizing the infrastructure of Naftoport in Gdańsk, which constitutes the basis of the domestic refineries’ supply system, indicated Wojnarowski.

The operating first line of the pipeline is about 236 km long and runs through the Mazowieckie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, and Pomorskie voivodeships.

PERN Possesses Documentation. What About Construction Timelines?

As the PERN press office informed PAP, the investment in the second line has obtained an environmental decision and construction permits. Originally, the investment was scheduled to be completed in 2029. PERN already reported on analyses regarding whether the investment is to be carried out back in 2024.

The Deputy Energy Minister pointed out that after modernization, the transmission capacities of the Pomeranian Pipeline were significantly increased, which allows for maintaining a throughput reserve. In practice, this means that the existing infrastructure is able to secure both domestic demand and, to a defined extent, regional needs, including those resulting from emergency situations, informed Wojnarowski.

Will the Pomeranian Pipeline Be Built in the Future?

The construction of the second line of the pipeline was not included in the latest draft of the National Energy and Climate Plan. However, Wojnarowski indicated that this does not mean abandoning the possibility of carrying out this undertaking in the future. The project remains under analysis, and PERN S.A. maintains investment readiness, including possessed documentation and obtained administrative decisions, conveyed the deputy minister.

He added that the eventual execution of the investment will depend on changing market conditions, the emergence of demand from recipients, and the confirmation of its validity from the point of view of the state’s energy security.

PERN, headquartered in Płock (Mazowieckie), is a strategic entity for Poland’s energy security. The company is responsible for pumping crude oil via pipelines to domestic refineries of the Orlen Group in Płock and Gdańsk as well as refineries in Germany, and for storing raw material and fuels in its bases throughout the country.