Poland celebrates 400th delivery of liquefied natural gas

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

On Sunday, the Aktoras, a 299-metre-long tanker, unloaded a shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Poland’s regasification terminal in Świnoujście – the 400th such delivery that the facility on the Baltic coast has received since opening almost exactly a decade ago.

The landmark emphasised how integral the terminal has become to Poland’s energy strategy, in particular the shift away from Russian supplies, which began well before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine but accelerated afterwards.

A record number of LNG deliveries have arrived at Świnoujście this year, accounting for around 40% of Poland’s gas demand. The country also aims to open one, and possibly two, more terminals in the coming years, as it seeks to become a regional hub, supplying gas to Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Aktoras unloaded a cargo of 160,000 cubic metres of LNG from the United States. After regasification (i.e. being converted from liquid to gas), it will amount to 96 million cubic metres of natural gas.

The delivery was the 71st received at Świnoujście this year – already well beyond the previous annual record of 62 deliveries received in 2023. The 2025 figure is likely to rise to 82 by the end of this year, says Gaz-System, Poland’s state gas transmission operator.

That has helped make “the Świnoujście terminal one of the pillars of building Polish energy sovereignty” since it opened in December 2015, declared Wojciech Wrochna, the government’s plenipotentiary for strategic energy infrastructure, on Sunday

Annual number of LNG deliveries to Poland’s Świnoujście terminal, including 11 planned deliveries in 2025 (source: Gaz-System)

“Today’s 400th LNG delivery is not only a significant operational event – ​​it is proof of the government’s effectively implemented energy policy, which is delivering tangible results,” added Wrochna. “Poland has secured its own needs and can support the energy stability of countries in the region.”

Earlier this month, Poland’s energy ministry confirmed that it is in talks with the US – which is currently the country’s main LNG supplier – over acting as a regional hub for gas deliveries to Ukraine and Slovakia.

Shortly afterwards, Polish state energy giant Orlen signed an agreement with its Ukrainian counterpart, Naftogaz, to continue supplying Ukraine with American gas delivered via the Baltic as LNG. Orlen began doing so earlier this year.

To meet anticipated demand, construction recently began on a second terminal, to be located in Gdańsk, that will open in 2028 with an annual capacity of 6.1 billion cubic meters (bcm). That will boost the 8.3 bcm capacity of Świnoujście.

Last month, Gaz-System announced that it had begun gauging market interest from neighbouring countries in LNG imports, with the aim of assessing whether to build a second floating terminal in Gdańsk alongside the one already under construction.

In 2022, Poland also opened the Baltic Pipe, which brings gas from Norway to Poland across the Baltic Sea. Last year, it supplied around 6.75 bcm of gas, compared to 6.1 bcm that arrived as LNG in Świnoujście.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Gaz-System (press materials)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.