May 21, 2015 [Materials Handling World] - Belgian company Geldof (Engicon nv) has started the construction of two gigantic petroleum storage tanks in the Polish city of Gdańsk.
The final client PERN ‘Przyjaźń’ Group is investing €200 m to build Poland’s very first port terminal. The port project will safeguard the supplies of crude oil, liquid fuels and chemicals in the region.
Geldof is providing a significant portion of the terminal’s total storage volume with the construction of two new double-walled tanks, each with a capacity of 62,500 m³. The storage capacity of the first phase which is currently being executed is 375,000 m³. In total the terminal will be able to store 700,000 m³. PERN ‘Przyjaźń’ Group will bring the Geldof storage tanks into use at the end of this year.
Strategically important project
“This terminal is strategically very important for Poland,” explains Krzysztof Marek Diduch, Managing Director for Engicon Poland, the Polish branch of Geldof. “Poland is currently reliant on crude oil supplies from Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union. The country has limited possibilities for producing its own crude oil, but this terminal means Poland can now import crude oil from all over the world. The storage tanks will safeguard the energy supplies for the entire region.”
The terminal is being built in a strategic location: in Gdańsk port just five kilometres from Poland’s second largest refinery called Lotos. The Gdańsk refinery is also one of the largest in Eastern Europe.
