Polish LNG terminal in Świnoujście reaches 60% capacity utilisation, highest in Europe

According to its director, the Polish terminal in Świnoujście has the highest utilisation rate among European LNG import terminals. Terminal utilisation has risen from around 35% last year to around 60% of capacity currently, with utilisation of around 65% expected for the full year. Further growth in LNG imports is expected in the coming years, mainly from Qatar and the US.

One of Europe’s newest liquefied natural gas import terminals, located in northern Poland, has achieved a relatively high utilisation rate of 60% of its capacity. Given the price of gas, which is higher than for pipeline imports, this is an exceptional result.

Although reaching 60% utilisation is a success, Gaz-System was still stating at the end of October last year that utilisation in 2018 should reach 100%. The company based this on orders for gas processing totalling 5 billion cubic metres, equivalent to 100% of the terminal’s capacity.

The terminal’s capacity corresponds to approximately one-third of Poland’s total natural gas consumption. The terminal is also set to be further expanded, with Gaz System planning to launch a tender for the additional construction work by the end of this year.

As a result, the LNG terminal in Świnoujście would increase its capacity by 50% to 7.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year, enabling it to cover up to half of Poland’s natural gas consumption. Under current plans, work on expanding the terminal should begin around the turn of 2019 and 2020, with the expanded section to be commissioned no later than 2022.

The nearly twofold increase in LNG terminal utilisation is mainly due to higher natural gas deliveries from Qatar, currently the largest LNG exporter.

Since the start of commercial operations, the terminal has processed liquefied natural gas from a total of 31 LNG tankers, with the largest number of tankers arriving in Poland from Qatar. Norway has also been a significant supplier, while only one tanker has so far arrived from the US.

Based on market signals, Gaz System expects supplies to increase, particularly from the US, despite the fact that shale gas imported as LNG from the US is generally more expensive than pipeline gas supplies from traditional fields.