Estonia and Finland are putting finishing touches to jointly lease a large floating liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal to replace Russian gas imports, following the recent gas cutoff from Russia.
The floating LNG terminal is to be docked in the southern port of Inkoo, according to Finnish energy firms Gasgrid Finland and Fortum.
"The vessel project is absolutely essential for the security of supply of natural gas in the Baltic region – and therefore extremely urgent. I'm pleased that the decision on the location of the terminal was made [on] such a fast schedule. As the need for the terminal covers the entire Baltic Sea region, Inkoo provides an excellent location for the vessel," Gasgrid's CEO, Olli Sipilä said in a statement.
Gasgrid is leasing the floating terminal "Exemplar" from Excelerate Energy for a period of 10 years, and the terminal will be available by the winter, according to the company.
The Exemplar ship is massive, measuring 291 metres long and 43 metres wide, with a gas storage capacity of 151,000 cubic metres.
With a maximum capacity of around 68,00 tonnes of LNG — or more than 40TWh annually, it will be able to meet Finland's and Estonia's annual demand for natural gas.
