Annual report 2022 - Report - Page 30
Gas pipeline from
North Sea to Poland is
legally complex
30 Annual Report 2022
The Baltic Pipe link is one of the
largest energy infrastructure
projects undertaken in recent
years. The project has been
underway since 2016. So when the
link finally commenced operation
on 1 October 2022, it was also a
special day for Horten, which
provided legal advice to Energinet
throughout the project.
helped realise such a large and important
energy infrastructure project.
“It was a great day when, early on the
morning of Saturday 1 October 2022, I
received a text message from Energinet
saying that the first gas had run through
Baltic Pipe at 6:10 am that morning. The
week leading up to this had seen
marathon negotiations to get the
necessary contractual basis in place to
put the gas pipeline into operation. It
marked the culmination of a long and
complicated negotiation process,” says
René Frisdahl Jensen. René is a partner
at Horten and part of the advisory team
that has assisted Energinet since
preparation for the Baltic Pipe project
began in 2016.
Unknown territory
Energinet’s contribution to the large
project consists of 105 kilometres of
pipeline in the North Sea, approx. 210
kilometres of underground pipeline
across Denmark, expansion of the
receiving terminal in Nybro near Varde,
and a new compressor station at
Everdrup in South Zealand. René Frisdahl
Jensen sees it as a great privilege to have
“Professionally, it has been very
interesting to be part of a project that
has spanned such a long time frame, with
so many complex and diverse legal
issues. It is also especially satisfying that
it is a project with great significance for
society.”
Baltic Pipe has been an unusual project,
because of its large scale and complexity,
and the many challenges that had to be
resolved along the way. The pipeline
crosses borders, motorways and
watercourses, protected nature areas,
wildlife areas and ancient monuments
– which all had to be handled with care.
René Frisdahl Jensen specialises in
energy and supply law, and has more
than 20 years of experience in the field.
While consulting for Energinet, which is
responsible for the Danish section of the
Baltic Pipe project, he used both
extensively. Especially in situations where
the project moved into unknown territory
and there was no practice to draw on.
“The energy sector is subject to very
heavy and complex regulation. Yet there
are still things that the legislation does
not address, so despite being specialists
with many years of experience in the
field, we have also found it challenging at
times. Baltic Pipe operates across
borders and regulations, and involves
many different parties. This results in a
complex of many contracts that have to
be agreed and fit together as part of a
whole, and the end result has to be
approved by the authorities,” says René
Frisdahl.
The complexity alone meant that
situations arose where alternative legal
ways to drive the project forward had to
be found.
“The green transition and the intensified
focus on security of supply mean that we
often face legal difficulties that need to
be resolved quickly and efficiently, but
where there is no established practice for
how to interpret the rules. The rules may
not even have been written yet. And
there are no previous energy
infrastructure projects that are fully
comparable to Baltic Pipe in regulatory
terms. In these situations, it is crucial as a
legal adviser that you dare to step up and
choose a path. Because we have to
complete the project,” says René Frisdahl
Jensen.
A good example is the common market
zone that was developed specifically for
Baltic Pipe.
“If an energy company wants to use
Baltic Pipe to transport gas, the common
market zone means they only have to