Nemunas Biknius, the CEO of Lithuania's natural gas transmission system operator Amber Grid, says German partners are to launch horizontal directional drilling works in early June.
"The drilling works will take about a month to complete," he told a news conference on Tuesday.
Lithuanian Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas expects the GIPL construction to be completed on schedule in late 2021.
"The plan is to lay two-thirds of the gas pipeline (on the Lithuanian side) this year. The (expected) pipeline completion date is in late 2021," he said.
According to the minister, the new gas pipeline will connect the Baltic states, Finland and Poland to the rest of Europe, and will ensure both security of gas supply and competitive prices.
Once completed, the project will also make it possible to supply gas to Belarus, Ukraine and other countries, he said.
Construction on the gas pipeline, which will stretch 165 kilometers in Lithuania, started in early 2020. Sixty-two kilometers of steel pipes have already been delivered to Lithuania from Poland, 40 kilometers of pipes have been welded, and the first 5 kilometers of pipes have been laid along the pipeline's route.
Archeological research is underway along the GIPL route, too.
The pipeline will allow transporting up 27 terawatt-hours (TWh) of natural gas toward the Baltic countries and up to 22 TWh toward Poland annually, making the Baltic gas market a part of the EU common gas market.
