News Post

Finnish Gasum Gets Approval for LNG Terminal

Finnish natural gas grid operator Gasum has received the green light from the county's environmental authority to proceed with its LNG terminal project plan, the transmission system operator (TSO) said on Thursday.

The authorisation follows Gasum's spring 2013 environmental impact assessment (EIA) submission to build an LNG terminal at either Inkoo or Porvoo (see ESGM 9 May 2013).

Finland's environmental authority the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY) said that Gasum's EIA report, which was commissioned in 2012, met with its requirements and that the project would not have a significant adverse environmental impact.

The proposed Finnish terminal could have an annual total import volume capacity of 10-20TWh when regasified, providing up to nearly half Finland's average annual gas consumption of 44TWh. Under current plans, it would be finished by 2018, Gasum has previously said.

Because there has been no resolution on the location of the LNG terminal from either in Finland or Estonia, a decision is expected to come from the EU, a Gasum spokeswoman said.

An EU spokeswoman said: "The decision on the location of the Eastern Baltic LNG terminal should stay with the Member States concerned. But as Estonia and Finland are not able to agree on the location of the LNG terminal, the Commission has requested additional information from the relevant project promoters with a view to pave the way for the decision to be made. The Commission in the meantime has received further information which is currently being analysed."

The proposed Porvoo site would limit LNG distribution within Finland's border, while Inkoo holds more potential for supplying LNG across the Baltic region.

Both Gasum and Estonian TSO Vorguteenus have already proposed the construction of an 80km pipeline - dubbed the Balticconnector - that would connect Inkoo in Finland to the Paldiski area in Estonia. However, such an investment requires the Inkoo site achieving project of common interest (PCI) status.

The EU spokeswoman added that the Commission is ready to support any project, provided there is an agreement of the concerned Member States and it fulfils the criteria of serving the whole eastern region and giving independence from the actual suppliers of the region. It was not clarified before going to press whether the EU's decision would come before the Commission publishes its final list of PCIs in October.

A final investment decision is expected at the end of 2014.

The terminal's construction would mean Finland, which is solely dependent on Russian gas, would cease to be exempt from the requirement to liberalise its gas market. The venture would also support plans to diversify the country's energy sources. Among the Baltic states, two potential projects have been mooted in Estonia, and Lithuania has signalled intentions to build a terminal and an interconnector to Poland.

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Finnish Gasum Gets Approval for LNG Terminal

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