Finland’s state-owned natural gas operator Gasgrid said it plans to install the Exemplar FSRU in Inkoo or Paldiski in Estonia in December
Gasgrid leased Excelerate Energy’s 151,000-m3 capacity FSRU for 10 years. If everything progresses as planned, the floating terminal will begin commercial operations in January 2023 with two slots.
The flow dynamics in the Finnish gas transmission network have changed. For decades, gas flowed from the Imatra entry point, but from 2020, the bi-directional Balticconnector pipeline between Finland and Estonia has supplied part of Finland’s gas demand.
In May 2022, gas flows through the Imatra entry point were halted after Russian state energy firm Gazprom demanded European countries pay for Russian gas supplies in roubles following sanctions imposed on Russia as a fallout of the war in Ukraine, leaving Balticconnector as the only supply route.
Rising gas prices and concerns over energy security prompted Gasgrid to charter Exemplar FSRU, to ensure an alternative supply of gas in the Finnish-Baltic region. Exemplar will enable higher volumes to be transported from the southern part of the Finnish gas network until a permanent terminal is complete.
Gasgrid outlined two scenarios as to where the FSRU might be located: If the terminal is located in Inkoo, the technical capacity will be 140 GWh/day, while the capacity of the Balticconnector from Finland to Estonia will stand at 78 GWh/day.
Any changes in the capacity value will be published on the UMM platform. The changes may be caused by planned or unplanned maintenance works or disruptions in the transmission system or terminal vessel.
If the floating LNG terminal is located in Paldiski, Balticconnector will have a technical capacity of 78 GWh/day from Estonia to Finland and the capacity from Finland to Estonia will be announced later by Elering.
Regardless of where Exemplar FSRU is installed, Inkoo will be the site of the final land-based import facility when the port structures are completed.
Another Finnish state utility, Fortum, is working with Gasgrid on the Inkoo import facility while Estonia’s Elering, Alexela, and Infortar are building a terminal in Paldiski.
The floating terminal will be loaded with LNG twice per gas month enabling ≈ 2 TWh/month of gas to be injected into the gas transmission network. Gasgrid said it will seek ways to increase available slots “as soon as possible when technical and operational functionality is working reliably.”
Besides the FSRU-based facility, Finland’s Hamina LNG terminal is expected to begin operating in Q4 2022.
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