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European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency
News article26 August 2022European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency

CEF Energy: the Gas Interconnector Poland-Slovakia (GIPS) celebrates its opening

Following successful tests of gas transmission between Poland and Slovakia in June, the newly constructed Gas Interconnector Poland-Slovakia (GIPS) has been inaugurated on 26 August 2022 in Strachocina (Poland).

GIPS Opening

High-level representatives at national and European level have attended the opening event, putting an end to eight years of construction works which were supported by the Connecting Europe Facility Energy programme with a total EU funding of over EUR 100 million.

The new gas interconnector establishes a physical link between the natural gas transmission networks in both countries. EU support was crucial in the construction of the Slovak and Polish sections of the pipeline as well as the installation of the auxiliary infrastructure on both sides. The total length of the pipeline is 165 km and the nominal transfer capacity is up to 15.6 mcm/d in the direction from SK to PL and 12.9 mcm/d in the reverse direction.

The European Commission granted Project of Common Interest (PCI) status to the project in November 2013 and since then supported several Actions contributing to the enhancement of security of gas supply for the two countries, and in a broader sense for the entire Central and Eastern European (CEE) region, which is of key importance in the current geopolitical context.

The completion of this PCI represents also a further step in the implementation of the North-South Gas Corridor in Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe. It enables a new gas transport route to new gas sources that can secure supplies by allowing access to gas from the Świnoujście LNG terminal, Klaipeda LNG, Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania (GIPL), the Baltic Pipe and the Slovakia-Hungary Interconnection, reducing dependence on gas imports from Russia. The new interconnector also strengthens the resilience, flexibility and integration of the gas transmission infrastructure of Poland and Slovakia.

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