GAZ-SYSTEM names first Polish FSRU Solidarity for 2028 Gdansk start-up

Polish gas transmission operator GAZ-SYSTEM has named the country’s first floating storage and regasification unit Solidarity, with the 170,000-cbm vessel due in Gdansk Bay in late 2027 before starting regasification services in the first quarter of 2028, according to GAZ-SYSTEM. The FSRU was launched in May at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea. The 294-metre-long and 46-metre-wide vessel is undergoing outfitting, systems integration and testing before delivery. Japanese shipping group Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is supplying the unit through its subsidiary White Eagle Energy Ltd under a 15-year charter agreed in April 2024. The contract includes an extension option and a right for GAZ-SYSTEM to purchase the vessel. The name Solidarity reflects Gdansk’s history and the project’s intended role in regional energy cooperation and supply resilience. The FSRU will be stationed about 3 km offshore and linked to Poland’s national gas network through a subsea pipeline and about 250 km of new onshore pipelines between Gdansk and Gustorzyn. The terminal will have regasification capacity of 6.1bn cubic metres per year. Polish energy group ORLEN reserved 100% of the offered capacity under a 15-year agreement signed in August 2023. GAZ-SYSTEM is also developing a second FSRU in Gdansk Bay after demand exceeded the capacity offered during an open-season process. Its planned capacity was increased from 4.5bn to 6.1bn cubic metres per year. Completion of the second unit would leave Poland with three LNG terminals — the onshore facility at Swinoujscie and two FSRUs in Gdansk Bay — with combined regasification capacity of more than 20bn cubic metres per year. GAZ-SYSTEM is a joint-stock company wholly owned by the Polish State Treasury, headquartered in Warsaw. It operates the Baltic Pipe, owns the Swinoujscie LNG terminal and controls natural-gas storage operator Gas Storage Poland. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is a South Korean shipbuilding company within HD Hyundai. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is a Japanese marine transportation group, while White Eagle Energy is its project subsidiary. ORLEN is a Polish integrated energy group.