Transitioning Scandinavian energy majors Orsted and Equinor have inked a deal under which Norwegian gas will be flowed to Denmark via the Baltic Pipe trunkline.
The agreement, which runs between 1 January 2023 and 1 April 2024, covers fossil fuel deliveries that will translate into some 8TWh of power production, roughly a quarter of the expected total Danish gas demand.
“This agreement with Equinor... 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,” said Søren Thygesen Blad, Orsted's head of gas portfolio management.
“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.”
The new agreement will clear the way for production from the South Arne gas field and from Orsted's biogas output, “strengthening the security of supply in Denmark while also replacing the gas volumes that Orsted would otherwise need to buy on a volatile European gas market in the period when the Tyra field is not supplying gas to Denmark”, said Blad.
Fossil gas supply in Europe has been under unprecendented strain since embargoes were implemented agains Russia following the superpower invasion of Ukraine.
Offshore wind power is being looked to make some of the different in power production in the EU, with Orsted-backed Enefit Green, for one, announcing in August that its planned 1GW project in the Gulf of Riga could cover half of the electricity consumption of Estonia and provide energy security for the Baltic state.
Baltic Pipe has transported gas from the North Sea to Poland via Denmark at up to 10 billion m3 a year since 2001.
