Poland is the country with the highest gas consumption among Eastern European countries. Since the energy crisis, the country has successfully diversified its gas supply. The restructuring of the Polish gas market is a prime example of a geopolitically motivated transformation. An overview.
Largest gas consumer in Eastern Europe
Poland’s gas consumption has risen significantly over the last 15 years, driven by industry, power generation and political targets for reducing emissions, reaching around 200 TWh in 2024.
This makes the country the largest gas consumer in Eastern Europe and the seventh largest in Europe, more than twice as much as the Czech Republic or Austria.
Moving away from dependence on Russia
Poland has traditionally been heavily dependent on Russian natural gas. Until 2022, around 50% of gas imports came from Russia, delivered via the Yamal pipeline. The Yamal-Europe supply contract was signed in 1996 and was due to run until the end of 2022. The volume was around 100 TWh of natural gas per year.
Poland had already announced in 2019 that it would not renew the contract. The government justified this with the goal of energy independence from Russia, the establishment of a new natural gas import structure and the EU requirements for diversification and EU climate targets.
However, Gazprom had already stopped gas deliveries to Poland in April 2022 after the country refused to comply with Gazprom’s ‘ruble decree,’ which required ‘unfriendly states’ to pay gas bills in rubles instead of euros or dollars.
Transformation of gas supply
Poland’s domestic gas production has been around 12 billion cubic metres per year in recent years, accounting for around 6 per cent of gas demand. Poland aims to keep production constant in the coming years, as there is no significant potential for expansion.
The Świnoujście LNG terminal and the Baltic pipeline are therefore the main pillars of the transformation of the Polish gas market with the aim of moving away from Russian natural gas.
The LNG terminal was commissioned in 2015 with an initial capacity of 5 billion cubic metres per year. With two expansion stages in 2022 and 2024, the capacity since 1 January 2025 has been around 8.3 billion cubic metres per year.
Świnoujście LNG terminal
In 2024, around 73 TWh of natural gas was dispatched from the terminal. Most LNG deliveries came from the USA, Qatar and Norway. No Russian LNG was imported. The terminal thus covered more than 30 per cent of Poland’s gas demand.
In 2024, the terminal was operating at 90 per cent capacity and supplied almost as much natural gas as all three German LNG terminals combined. The floating terminal FSRU Gdańsk, which is scheduled to go into operation in 2027, will contribute to further diversification.
Świnoujście thus plays a major role in the national gas supply, with LNG being a central pillar of diversification for Poland. In comparison, German LNG terminals are significantly underutilised; the terminal in Wilhelmshaven, for example, was only 65 per cent utilised in 2024.
Baltic Pipeline
After seven years of construction, the 900 km long Baltic Pipeline was commissioned in September 2022. The pipeline imports Norwegian natural gas to Poland via Denmark.
The pipeline is a branch of the existing Europipe II pipeline, which runs from Norway through the North Sea to Germany. The Baltic Pipe then runs across the Baltic Sea to Poland via the Danish mainland.
The pipeline has a maximum capacity of 10 billion cubic metres per year and could thus cover around 50 per cent of Poland’s gas requirements. In 2024, Poland imported around 80 TWh of natural gas via this pipeline.
Around 80 per cent of the pipeline’s capacity is booked on a long-term basis until 2037. An optional offshore hydrogen pipeline under the Baltic Sea, known as the Baltic Sea Hydrogen Collector (BHC), is currently being discussed between network operators and industry partners for the period after 2030.