Jozef, a 60 year old taxi driver from Warszow, Swinoujscie says, "This has put our in the firing-line."
His coastal community is home to Poland’s largest liquefied natural gases (LNG) terminal. Some call it the country's best chance at energy independence.
Locals such as Jozef worry that this could make the area a target of Vladimir Putin's unpredictable presidency.
Russia supplied 40% of the European Union's natural gases up to this year. But, everyone in the region is now wary about Russia's supplies after the invasion of Ukraine in February.
As we travel along narrow roads through the pine forest, it is difficult to imagine that there could be a threat. The terminal is lighted by shafts of sunlight that glint off industrial machinery.
Poland relies heavily on the port of the northwestern Baltic to save it from a terrible energy crisis.
After Gazprom cut off supplies to Poland in April, the Lech Kaczynski terminal was essential for replacing the lost Russian gas.
In June, European gas prices soared. Germany is now closer to rationing gas and Italy has joined the ranks of European countries that have reported further reductions in Russian supplies.
Workers at Kaczynski Terminal are busy laying foundations to link a third cylindrical to unload berths half a kilometre from the coast.
LNG is transported to the berths by tankers from around the globe, mainly the US and Qatar, but also Norway and sometimes as far as Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago.
A worker from Ukraine smiles and cheerfully replies that the project is on track.
The terminal was commissioned in 2016 and cost 3.5 billion Zlotys to construct (PS625m). It currently receives and regasifies approximately 23% of Poland’s annual demand for gas, which is 21 billion cubic metres (bcm).
This will rise to 7.5 billion dollars annually after the expansion works are completed. Reports suggest that it could go up to 10 billion dollars by 2023.
Poland, like the rest of Europe is moving away from coal-fired power plants, but its domestic gas consumption is increasing fast. It is likely to rise to around 30 bcm per year, which is roughly equivalent to heating nine millions homes.
We pass through the terminal site passing German bunkers built in WWII. They are overgrown by weeds and surrounded by a barbed wire fence. "The Germans are building their terminal at the border, just a few kilometers from here." Jozef says, "But we will beat them at it."
Swinoujscie lies closer to Berlin than Warsaw, at just 56 miles (90 km) and 350 miles (560km), respectively. A long-planned LNG terminal near Wilhelmshafen has just begun construction, and there are plans to build two more near Hamburg.
The locals are optimistic about the economic boost for the region of Poland. Local people are not far from many of the jobs at LNG terminal. Many firms hire specialists from abroad.
Aleksandra Wozniak is a receptionist at Nowe Millenium. She tells me that her energy bills have gone up 70% since the start of the war.
She shrugs, "It's crazy. But maybe this terminal will aid." After 17 years of living in Devon, Ms Wozniak moved back to the region and worked at TK Maxx.
"We returned to Poland to be close to our family. But immediately there was Covid. Then my mother-in law died and then the war. She adds that her husband, a chef and their four children, all born in Exeter, want to return "home" to the UK.
"The Swinoujscie of old is in danger. It is now a construction site. Some older residents are upset by the changes. They feel it has lost its small-town feel and touristy flavor. She smiles, "But it's progress."
Tourism is still a good money-spinner. The town has about 30,000 residents, but it can attract about 300,000. Tourists in summer.
Oskar Janczarek is a sales assistant who has never been to the terminal. "But, for some reason, many tourists visit it though. More tourists are good for business.
He shifts seamlessly between Polish and German as his customers arrive. Oskar claims that energy bills and other prices have risen in recent months. The war has made Oskar "aware of how fluid borders are"
His colleague Nadya is a young Ukrainian woman who works in Eurosport. She recently arrived from Lviv, in western Ukraine.
Poland is currently working to build interconnectors to connect with Lithuania, Ukraine and Slovakia in order to transport surplus gas to neighboring markets. This is a bid for a regional gas hub.
This is part a strategy to reorient the central European gas market by creating north-south routes for gas to replace the east-west links.
Henning Gloystein, Eurasia Group Director of Energy, Climate and Resources, said that Poland will need to play a key role in EU efforts to eliminate Russian gas imports and to reach the longer-term goal of zero greenhouse gas emission.
"The immediate priority is to get rid of the nearly 10 bcm gas Poland used to get from Russia. He says that this will most likely happen with the opening of the Baltic Pipe. This is expected to take place later in the year.
"The combination [this] pipeline with LNG imports increases security of supply. Gloystein says that Poland will need to invest more in new energy resources over the long-term. "If Poland is to achieve its net zero 2050 goals, it must reduce its dependence on coal." Gloystein adds.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia, which are almost entirely dependent on Russian gas, have both pledged their support for the terminal. The Swinoujscie government even stated that it would invest in the expansion.
According to reports, LNGE in the USA has offered to finance construction work on a new interconnector for gas between Ukraine and Poland.
"Germany placed its bets on Russian gas, and now it must scramble to be in a position to supply enough gas to its market today and tomorrow. It doesn't know if it can/should rely on Russian gas. Its energy policy, which aims to coal and nuclear outsource, will need more gas in order to enter the market," Anna Mikulska, Center for Energy Studies at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy believes these changes will alter Poland's position in Central Europe.
She adds that Germany's potential plans to be a gas hub for Central and East Europe are no longer realistic. "Poland's plans, however, are on the right track, with the possibility that it might need to help its neighbors to the west, Germany, or further on."
The Polish government donated an additional 3 billion zlotys (3,540 million) to the operator of the Swinoujscie terminal in March.
The terminal is now on the EU's 2022 List of Projects of Common Interest. This indicates the bloc's support for the project. However, not all are convinced.
According to Albrecht Rothacher (author of a book called "Putonomics" and former EU diplomat, the talk of Poland becoming a regional gas hub is exaggerated.
He says that the supplies from Swinemunde, Swinoujscie, would only be a drop in a bucket. "I fear, despite my best intentions, it is unfortunately too little and too late," he said.
