November 23, 2022 [LNG Prime] – Estonian energy company Alexela and compatriot investment firm Infortar have completed the construction work on the FSRU-based Paldiski LNG import facility.
Alexela said in a social media post that the work on the mooring point was completed on October 28, few days earlier ahead of the promised deadline.
The port will be soon ready to receive LNG carriers, according to Alexela.
“The world record has been achieved and the promise made in the spring has been fulfilled – as far as we know, no one has built an LNG terminal anywhere in the world only in six months,” the company said.
However, Estonia’s gas and electricity transmission system operator, Elering, still needs to complete installation of the gas equipment, including loading arms.
“We want to make sure that the gas equipment by Estonia’s gas and electricity transmission system operator will be installed so the gas reception capacity will be established in Paldiski LNG terminal by the end of this November,” Alexela said.
Elering said in June that construction work had started on the pipeline that will connect the planned FSRU-based LNG import terminal in Paldiski to the grid.
The pipeline will be long about 1.2 kilometers, linking the LNG terminal’s jetty to Elering’s onshore compressor station.
Excelerate’s FSRU to go to Inkoo
As per the FSRU, Estonia and Finland agreed to jointly charter an FSRU to import LNG, as part of plans to reduce reliance on Russian pipeline gas and boost energy security.
After that, Gasgrid signed a 10-year deal to charter one FSRU from US LNG player Excelerate.
Under the charter deal, Excelerate will provide its 150,900-cbm Exemplar which can supply more than 5 billion cubic meters per year of regasification capacity.
Previously, the two countries said that the FSRU would dock either at Inkoo or Paldiski, depending on which facility is completed first.
However, Finland and Estonia recently agreed to place FSRU Exemplar in the Finnish port of Inkoo.
The two countries agreed that the LNG terminal in Inkoo would ensure the gas supply of both Estonia and Finland on equal terms in order to reduce the risks of security of supply in the coming winter, Gasgrid previously said.
Gasgrid said in a update on October 14 that it had completed bored-pile driving work at the Inkoo facility. The port structures are due for completion in December ahead of the arrival of the FSRU, it said.
The Finnish state-owned natural gas transmission system operator is expecting the first commissioning cargo to arrive at the FSRU in December while the commercial operations should start in January 2023.
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