MOL emerges as preferred supplier of Poland’s first FSRU

After revealing two potential suppliers in November 2023, Poland’s natural gas transmission system operator GAZ-SYSTEM has now selected Japanese shipping major Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) as the preferred shipowner to time charter out a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) for the planned LNG import terminal in the Gulf of Gdańsk, Poland.

In late 2023, GAZ-SYSTEM picked Japan’s MOL and Norway’s BW LNG as potential suppliers of the first FSRU which will serve as a regasification terminal in the Gulf of Gdańsk. At the time, the company said it planned to conclude the final deal with one of the entities for a period of 15 years.

On January 30, 2024, GAZ-SYSTEM selected the best offer for the delivery and operation of the FSRU and decided to continue negotiations of the terms of the FSRU time charter party agreement with MOL.

This is Poland’s first such FSRU and is a strategically important piece of energy infrastructure which will enhance the country’s energy security.

“The selection of the LNG Floating Storage and Regasification Unit supplier is an important milestone in the implementation of the FSRU Program which Gaz System has pursued for many months now. In the near future, we will focus on developing the detailed terms of the so-called Time Charter Party. Further, we need to obtain all necessary corporate approvals from Gaz System’s management bodies to sign the agreement with the shipowner,” said Andrzej Kensbok, Vice President of GAZ-SYSTEM Management Board.

The FSRU is estimated to be capable of regasification of 6.1 bcm of gaseous fuel per year, and GAZ-SYSTEM has already signed the agreement covering the entire regasification capacity of the unit.

The entire planned offshore infrastructure, including the FSRU, will be located approximately three kilometers away from the shore. The FSRU mooring jetty and the breakwater will be located close to the existing approach fairway and within the Port of Gdańsk, and the offshore pipeline will allow gas to be transported to the national transmission network.

GAZ-SYSTEM said that approximately 250 kilometers of transmission pipelines will be constructed as part of the project to enable efficient distribution of gas from the Gdańsk area to central Poland. The construction of onshore gas pipelines is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2024, but no later than the first quarter of 2025.

The commissioning of the complete project is planned for 2027/2028.

The Gdańsk FSRU project has the status of a ‘Project of Community Interest’ with the financial support of the European Commission (EC) for pre-investment works for the offshore part of the project.