Denmark's Ørsted and Norway's Equinor have signed a contract under which Equinor will supply Norwegian gas to Denmark via Baltic Pipe.
The agreement covers the period from January 1, 2023 to April 1, 2024, and the total volumes of gas supplied during the period will be around 8 TWh, which corresponds to about a quarter of the expected total Danish gas consumption.
The completion of the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline has enabled Ørsted to buy gas from the Norwegian gas fields, as the gas pipeline connects the Norwegian gas pipe system to Denmark, Ørsted said. Financial details were not disclosed.
Søren Thygesen Blad, Head of Gas Portfolio Management in Ørsted, says: "We're pleased to have entered into this agreement with Equinor, which ensures a stable supply of Norwegian gas to Denmark via Baltic Pipe during the period when the Tyra field isn’t supplying gas to Denmark.
"With this agreement, we’ll have more than enough gas to meet the gas demand of our customers for the coming and next winter, enabling us to stock up our Danish gas storage facilities over the summer."
"With this agreement and the production from the South Arne field and from biogas, Ørsted has more than covered the consumption of its own customers, which are business customers in Denmark and Sweden. The agreement strengthens the security of supply in Denmark while also replacing the gas volumes that Ørsted would otherwise need to buy on a volatile European gas market in the period when the Tyra field is not supplying gas to Denmark," Ørsted said.
Terminal delays
The Baltic Pipe is a strategic EU infrastructure project led by Danish and Polish companies to build a gas pipeline from the Norwegian part of the North Sea to Denmark and through the Baltic Sea to Poland.
Gas started flowing to Poland through the new pipeline from Norway via Denmark and the Baltic Sea earlier this month, but Denmark will have to wait some more to start receiving the gas due to the issues with its onshore terminal.
Danish grid operator Energinet said on October 19, that due to continued technical challenges at the terminal in Nybro near Varde, Denmark, commissioning would be delayed and "is now planned to take place in two stages."
"The commissioning of Baltic Pipe's receiving terminal in Nybro near Varde in western Denmark will be postponed for almost two weeks. The receiving terminal for gas from the Norwegian gas pipeline Europipe II should have been commissioned on Thursday, October 20, 2022," Energinet said last week.
However, Energinet then said it had notified the gas market that the commissioning of the Nybro terminal would take place in two stages.
According to the company, the first part of the commissioning is expected on November 1, 2022, with half of the total capacity (6,700 MWh/h). Full commissioning will take place later in 2022. The final date will be announced as soon as possible, Energinet said.
Major Tyra Offshore Works Complete
The Tyra field is the largest gas condensate field in the Danish Sector of the North Sea. Due to seabed subsidence, the Tyra field required a redevelopment, calling for the removal and decommissioning of the prior Tyra platforms, reuse, and a 13-meter extension of the existing jackets at six platforms, and the construction and installation of new topsides and a new processing platform, and a new accommodation platform.
First gas from the redeveloped Tyra - the so-called Tyra II - is slated for the winter season 2023/24.
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