EU Commission Clears EUR 465 Million Aid for Developing Polish Gas Network

The European Commission has found a 1 950 million PLN (approx. €465 million) support measure for the construction of a series of gas pipelines and modernisation works in different parts of Poland to be in line with EU state aid rules.

The Commission has concluded that the project will further EU energy goals without unduly distorting competition in the internal market.

In March 2013, Poland notified plans to support the development of the Polish gas transmission network to the Commission. The aid, which is financed by EU Structural Funds, will be granted to GAZ-SYSTEM, the State-owned gas transmission system operator in Poland.

GAZ-SYSTEM will build a network of new pipelines that will help setting up a “North-South corridor” of gas supply in Poland. The corridor is a network of infrastructure intended to facilitate the access to gas supply sources in the North (i.e. Norwegian gas and the LNG terminal in Świnoujście) and to better integrate the Polish gas market with the gas markets in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

As the pipelines will have a higher transmission capacity, it will be possible to give network access to a greater number of gas suppliers, in line with the principle of “Third Party Access” defined in EU internal market rules. This will stimulate competition in the gas supply market. In view of these advantages, the Commission found the aid to be compatible with EU rules that allow state aid for the development of certain economic activities (Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union – TFEU).

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LNG World News Staff, October 16, 2013