Poland has launched the Baltic Pipe. The opening ceremony took place on Tuesday in Goleniów. The infrastructure will deliver 6.5 billion cubic meters of Norwegian gas to Poland in 2023, and its total capacity is expected to reach 10 billion cubic meters per year. The project is the centerpiece of a Polish strategy to diversify away from Russian gas that began years before Moscow’s February invasion of Ukraine triggered a global energy crisis. The hope for energy diversification is still warm.

Norway’s Equinor said on Friday it had entered into a 10-year agreement to sell natural gas to Poland’s PGNiG in a deal covering a volume of 2.4 billion cubic meters per year, or around 15% of Polish annual consumption. The European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, said that the pipeline will play a valuable role in mitigating the current energy crisis. “The Baltic Pipe is a key project for the security of supply of the region and the result of an EU policy drive to diversify sources of gas”, he said.

Moreover, Poland should get double the amount of gas originally expected in the fourth quarter thanks to work in Denmark being completed earlier than expected, a top Polish official was quoted as saying on Saturday. The forecast came after Danish system operator Energinet said on Saturday the pipeline could be commissioned at full capacity from the end of November instead of Jan. 1 thanks to good progress on work in Denmark, a boost for Poland as it scrambles to replace Russian gas.

Poland was cut off from Russian gas supplies in April for refusing to pay in roubles. The contract with Equinor supplements Poland’s LNG supply, domestic output and potential imports via interconnectors with its neighbours ahead of the coming winter.