The Exemplar floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) is to be moored at Finland's Inkoo port, rather than at Estonia's Paldiski, the Estonian and Finnish economy ministries confirmed on Monday.
The initial mooring point of the FSRU has been unclear for several months, but following "long discussions and analyses", the two governments concluded that placing the FSRU in Finland has become "reasonable in the security situation", Estonian economy minister Riina Sikkut said. This will allow Finland to launch and offer 600MW of gas-fired production capacity to the common electricity market, which will improve security of supply throughout the region, Sikkut's Finnish counterpart Mika Lintila said.
In order to mitigate security of supply risks this winter, "we are ready to introduce additional rules to ensure equal gas delivery to consumers in Estonia and Finland", Lintila said. The two countries are working together to develop rules that would allow gas suppliers guaranteed access to the terminal. The countries also agreed on Monday that the development of these rules must be accelerated so that gas sellers can start booking capacity at the terminal as soon as possible.
The completion of infrastructure at Estonia's Paldiski is still important in terms of energy security because it "creates the possibility that we can also bring the floating terminal to Estonia if necessary", Sikkut said. Sikkut recently suggested that the Estonian government would consider renting its own FSRU to be moored at Paldiski if the facility goes unused this winter. Estonian supplier Eesti Gaas outlined that access to LNG is crucial in order for companies to remain competitive. Estonia late last month banned Russian gas and LNG imports from the start of 2023.
The FSRU is meant to receive its commissioning cargo in mid-December, Finnish system operator Gasgrid said, with Gasgrid intending to offer two cargo slots for January.
Estonia's Alexela has also said it is eyeing an increase of its new Hamina terminal's sendout capacity to 24 GWh/d from 4.8 GWh/d.
