BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 7. For the first time, natural gas may be imported to Hungary from the north due to a new LNG terminal being built in Gdansk, Poland, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations of Hungary Péter Szijjártó said, Trend reports.
"This development opens up a new opportunity for gas supply diversification, allowing Hungary to receive gas from the north via Poland, enhancing energy security," he said.
Szijjártó emphasized the importance of this in light of recent energy crises in Europe.
"Hungary has been actively diversifying its gas sources, with agreements in place with Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Qatar, aiming to reduce reliance on a single source. Despite the EU's lack of financial support, Hungary collaborates closely with Southeast European countries to expand gas infrastructure capacity," the minister pointed out.
Meanwhile, Poland's Gaz-System intends to boost the regasification capacity of its upcoming Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) LNG import project in Gdansk Bay, located in northern Poland, by 4.5 billion cubic meters per year (bcm/year).
The project, initially designed for 6.1 bcm/year, is set to reach a new total regasification capacity of 10.6 bcm/year. Gaz-System aims to have this added capacity operational by January 2028, but the final decision will hinge on market demand as part of the ongoing evaluation process.
This Gdansk initiative marks Poland's second LNG import terminal and its first FSRU-based facility. Gaz-System already manages the Świnoujście LNG terminal, which saw a 57-percent increase in imports in 2022, reaching 4.4 million tons (approximately 5.8 bcm) due to reduced Russian gas supply and growing LNG imports from the US. Since 2022, the Świnoujście terminal has operated with a commercial regasification capacity of 6.2 bcm/year (originally 5 bcm/year) and is undergoing expansion to reach 8.3 bcm/year.
