Estonian authorities support transfer of floating LNG terminal to Finland

HELSINKI, 12 Oct – PRIME. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas supported the transfer of a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to Finland, noting that this will not affect the reliability of the country’s gas supply, since in addition to the state gas reserve, the republic has the necessary channels for its supply from neighboring countries.

On Monday, Estonian Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Riina Sikkut, after meeting with her Finnish counterpart Mika Lintilä, announced that the LNG terminal, through which Estonia will be supplied with gas, will go to a berth under construction in Finland this winter.

Estonia and Finland have previously agreed that a regasification vessel for receiving liquefied natural gas will be located next winter in the country that will be the first to complete the construction of the necessary infrastructure for this. Estonia has almost completed construction, but the terminal will still be sent to Finland, which promises to complete construction in mid-December. This decision caused bewilderment among the players of the Estonian gas market, and the parliamentary opposition threatened to pass a vote of no confidence in Sikkut.

According to Kallas, this is a logical development, since the annual gas consumption in Estonia is 3.5 terawatt-hours, while in Finland it is 14 terawatt-hours. In addition, Finland, unlike Estonia, has only one external gas connection after the loss of Russian gas, and such a situation would be a clear threat to the energy security of its northern neighbor.

“This ship should not be overly fetishized. It is important whether there is a reliable gas supply, the availability of gas for Estonian enterprises and the population. Our risks can be mitigated by the fact that we actually receive gas from this pipe (Estonian-Finnish underwater gas pipeline Balticconnector – ed.) And on this score, we have an agreement, an agreement on solidarity with Latvia and Finland, and these things should work. The main thing is that this gas is available,” Kallas said on Wednesday, speaking to MPs.

Kallas added that Estonia did not rely only on the LNG terminal and purchased the state’s natural gas reserve. In addition, the country has different supply chains. She noted that the gas storage facility in Latvia has 12.6 terawatt-hours of gas, Estonia also has access to the LNG terminal in Klaipeda with a capacity of 38 terawatt-hours. At the moment, the Estonian state reserve of natural gas for the winter period is 0.65 terawatt-hours.