Eesti Gas, a part of Estonian investment firm Infortar, is planning to start importing liquefied natural gas via Finland’s first FSRU-based LNG facility in the port of Inkoo later this year.
The Tallinn-based firm, which is branded internationally as Elenger, has received five LNG cargoes via Lithuania’s FSRU-based Klaipeda LNG import facility in 2022 and took another one on Tuesday.
According to a statement by Eesti Gas, the 174,130-cbm LNG carrier, Isabella, owned by Maran Gas and chartered by Equinor, delivered the shipment to the 170,000-cbm FSRU Independence in Klaipeda from the US.
“Eesti Gaas prepared early for the heating season and secured the necessary gas supply for customers. This cargo will help us through the winter months, we have enough gas for everyone and the price has also fallen, as the winter has been unusually warm in Europe so far,” Margus Kaasi, chairman of the management board of Eesti Gaas, said in the statement.
He said that Eeesti Gas has also signed a deal to receive the next LNG shipment in Klaipeda in March.
After that, the firm also plans to start receiving supplies via Excelerate Energy’s 150,900-cbm FSRU Exemplar, which serves Gasgrid’s import facility in Inkoo.
“In the second and third quarters, when the Inkoo terminal has started working properly in Finland, we plan to bring gas through there as well,” Kaasik said.
Finland’s Gasgrid said this week that the FSRU-based LNG import facility in the port of Inkoo is ready to launch commercial operations.
The FSRU Exemplar started supplying regasified LNG to the grid on December 29 as part of the commissioning phase.
Also, the unit received its first LNG tanker, Isabella, that delivered a cargo from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG terminal in the US.
The FSRU can supply more than 5 billion cubic meters per year of regasification capacity and will serve Finland, Estonia, and other Baltic states under a 10-year charter deal Gasgrid signed with Excelerate in May last year.
Previously, Finland and Estonia planned to place Excelerate’s FSRU in Inkoo or Paldiski.
Estonian energy company Alexela and compatriot Infortar announced in October last year the completion of the jetty as part of the FSRU-based Paldiski LNG import facility in Estonia, the country’s first such facility.
However, Finland and Estonia agreed in October last year to place FSRU Exemplar in the Finnish port of Inkoo.