Copenhagen’s decision to withdraw a permit for the Danish section of the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline from Poland to Norway could mean Warsaw remains a buyer of Russian gas. That was not part of the plan.
The Danish Environment and Food Appeals Committee on May 31 revoked an environmental permit for the Baltic Pipe project, due to fears over damage to local bat and mice populations. The permit was issued in July 2019 for the 210-kilometer (125-mile) onshore section of the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline on Danish territory.
The pipeline is planned to link Norwegian gas fields with Polish customers from October 2022. The move is a setback for Poland’s long-term and cross-party plans to shift away from dependence on Russian gas.
“Russia will use the delay as leverage and could seek to push ahead with a project to build a nuclear plant in Kaliningrad and an energy bridge, linked to the EU electricity markets,” Robert Tomaszewski of Polityka Insight told DW. “Poland could be urged to join as a way of inducing preferable gas contracts,” he added.