Gasgrid reduces number of planned LNG import slots at Inkoo terminal

Finnish transmission system operator Gasgrid Finland has reduced the total number of planned LNG import slots at the country’s first FSRU-based terminal for Q2 and Q3 2023.

FSRU Exemplar. Courtesy of Gasgrid Finland

Finland’s floating LNG terminal is located in the port of Inkoo where Excelerate Energy’s floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Exemplar was anchored at the end of 2022 to begin the commissioning period which ended on 25 January.

The vessel has a storage capacity of 150,900 m3 of LNG and can provide more than 5 billion cubic metres per year (bcm/y) of regasification capacity.

The unit will serve Finland, Estonia and the Baltic Sea region under the ten-year charter agreement signed by Excelerate Energy and Gasgrid Finland in May 2022.

The capacity allocation process for the period between 1 April to September 30 2023 commenced on 15 December 2022 with Gasrid offering 14 terminal slots of 1,000 GWh.

During this time, Estonian energy company Eesti Gaas reached an agreement to bring seven LNG cargoes to the port of Inkoo in Finland in the spring and summer this year.

Gasgrid has now released a statement saying that the total number of planned slots for Q2 and Q3 was reduced to 10 due to the limitation of transmission capacity in the Baltic Connector and expected market demand.

The company added that out of these 10 slots, three slots are free for reservations. Simultaneously, Gasgrid’s unit and the operator of the Inkoo terminal, Floating LNG terminal Finland Oy, has invited interested parties to submit their bids for the remaining slots.

Three slots of 950 GWh are available for April, August and September