Sharjah24 – AFP: In Denmark, large black pipes are about to be buried in a muddy trench, as construction of a gas pipeline from Norway to Poland resumes following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

From plans for liquefied natural gas terminals in northern Germany, Finland and France to potential new routes through Spain and the Mediterranean, Europe is striving to rid itself of its dependence on Russian gas, though experts say the task will take years to complete.

In Middelfart in central Denmark, work resumed last month on the Baltic Pipe project, a planned 900-kilometre link, mainly intended to help Poland reduce its dependence on Russian natural gas.

"Of course it's also to have the gas in the Danish system but mainly also to help our good neighbours' gas systems and our Polish good friends," Soren Juul Larsen, head of the project at Danish energy infrastructure operator Energinet, said.

Just a week after the invasion of Ukraine, the Danish environmental authority -- which had concerns about the project's impact on local populations of mice and bats -- granted a permit to continue construction, after a nine-month suspension.

"The pipeline was stopped because of a lack of permissions concerning the protection of nature and rare species," Trine Villumsen Berling, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies said.

"We were expecting it to soon be approved but of course the war made it a more pressing issue," Villumsen said.