Finland’s Gasgrid has sold 95% of 2024 LNG terminal capacity
The LNG terminal operated by Gasgrid in Inkoo has already sold 95% of its reservation capacity for this year.
The result reflects the growing demand for clean gases and highlights the firmly established and central role of the LNG terminal as part of the Finnish energy market. Operational flexibility, security of supply and seamless cooperation between stakeholders enable stable, efficient and customer-oriented terminal operations. As the clean transition progresses, the significance of the Inkoo LNG terminal will continue to grow.
A brisk half of the year was kicked off by an exceptionally harsh winter, during which the security of gas supply in Finland remained good despite the cold weather and the outage of the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia, and there have been no interruptions in supply.
Besides the energy needs of industry and households, the Inkoo LNG terminal also serves electricity production. The electricity production challenges caused by severe frost and lack of wind in the first week of January raised gas consumption to a peak level (130 GWh/day), as gas was used to produce electricity at peak consumption with a capacity of almost 1,000 MW. Gasgrid’s Inkoo LNG terminal and Balticconnector together enable the efficient expansion of gas-based electricity production capacity to support the transition towards energy production based on renewable sources, while safeguarding the security of supply and energy independence.
Satu Mattila, CEO of Gasgrid Floating LNG Terminal Oy, says that she is pleased that market operators have considered the opportunities offered by the terminal and see it as a good distribution point both in Finland and, through Balticconnector, onwards to the Baltic states. “The good situation in capacity sales shows very strong interest by market operators in the services provided by the LNG terminal. The past winter showed the importance and reliability of the terminal, as the Finnish gas market remained stable despite the Balticconnector outage. Although the ice conditions in the Northern Baltic Sea were among the most challenging seen in years, the planned LNG shipping was successfully carried out as a whole. This was made possible by good cooperation between different operators, both in terminal operations and, for example, icebreaking at sea. People often ask about the commercial viability of the floating LNG, but this can only be assessed after several years of operation,” Mattila explains.
Sale of the LNG terminal’s reservation capacity for 2025 will begin in July. The Inkoo LNG terminal and the development measures implemented there have partly restored the significant flexibility lost in the Finnish gas market due to the disruption of the Russian pipeline gas connection. Where the situation has allowed, even smaller vessels have been able to ship LNG to the terminal during the outage of the Balticconnector pipeline, and the aim is to make the service a permanent part of the terminal’s offering.
Besides this, LNG can, if necessary, also be exported from the terminal to external or off-grid terminals. To improve the planning and availability of capacity reservations, the terminal’s reservation capacity is shifting from gas year to calendar year planning. Planning based on a calendar year will give the terminal better opportunities to consider (e.g., the annual maintenance measures of the Finnish and Baltic gas networks, which are typically announced in the summer). The data obtained over the summer will help determine the total available commercial capacity (in terawatt hours, TWh) for the following year.
Next year’s capacity sales will begin in July, when market operators can start making reservation requests for the amount of gas they need.
“Once we know the booking needs of market operators, we will start a scheduling period and allocate capacity (i.e., slots) accordingly. Negotiations on user-specific schedules for capacity reservations are conducted within the framework of terminal rules drawn up by the authority. In the event of overbooking, the terminal rules enable balancing so that the reservations are distributed equally,” says Rasmus Hellman, Commercial Manager, Floating LNG Terminal Finland Oy.
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