Estonia completing first stage of LNG terminal construction

RIGA. Sept 1 (Interfax/BNS) - The first phase of construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Estonia's Paldiski is nearing completion, Estonian television reported.

A similar terminal will be built in Finland's Inkoo by December. Both terminals will be included in a single system. At the same time, the terminal in Paldiski may only become a backup terminal, since the LNG carrier will spend most of its time in Finland, since gas consumption there is much higher.

Work on the Paldiski LNG terminal is proceeding around the clock, and on Wednesday, the first stage of construction will be completed a day ahead of schedule (the project is being implemented by Alexela and Infortar). Afterwards, Estonian grid operator Elering will begin gas works.

Elering plans to complete installation of gas pipes by November 30. Estonia and Finland have agreed that the floating gasification plant leased by the Finnish firm Gasgrid will dock at the terminal that will be ready first. The Finnish side will operate the LNG carrier.

"We expect to complete the terminal on November 30 this year. However, we know that the Finns are also moving at a very fast pace. So we don't know yet exactly where the LNG ship will be, on the Estonian side or the Finnish side. This is not important for the consumer. It will supply the necessary volumes anyway," said Timo Tatar, Vice Chancellor of the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

The LNG terminal's base vessel left Argentina for Europe last week and will either berth in Paldiski or Inkoo.

In early August, the Finnish gas transportation company Gasgrid Finland announced that it had begun construction of port facilities for the Exemplar floating LNG terminal in Inkoo. The company planned to proceed to the installation of the vessel in December 2022.