Finnish state-owned energy firm Gasum has delivered its second liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to the Inkoo FSRU-based terminal operated by Gasgrid.
Gasum said that the LNG cargo of about 400 GWh has arrived from Norway on Sunday, and it was supplied by Gasum’s longtime partner Equinor.
According to its AIS data, the 2006-built 147,980-cbm, Arctic Princess, delivered the LNG shipment from Equinor’s Hammerfest LNG export plant to Excelerate Energy’s 150,900-cbm FSRU Exemplar, which serves Gasgrid’s import facility in Inkoo under a charter deal.
This is the second LNG cargo Gasum has delivered to the Inkoo FSRU since the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia suffered a rupture and was shut down in early October.
Repair of the pipeline is expected to take at least five months.
In the meantime, all Finnish natural gas demand must be met through imports of LNG, Gasum said.
More LNG cargoes
In addition to this delivery, Gasum has reserved three more slots at the Inkoo FSRU for the upcoming winter season, it said.
These cargoes will ensure that Gasum can meet the natural gas demand of its customers until spring 2024.
In the coming months the Inkoo FSRU will also be equipped with the technical capability to load LNG from the terminal further into smaller bunkering vessels, improving the flexibility of cargo utilization, Gasum said.
“We are working hard to secure supply of natural gas over the coming winter season to our customers, whose operations depend on a steady supply of gas,” Jouni Liimatta, head of trading and optimizing at Gasum.
“It is a challenging situation, but we already have experience from rebuilding our pipeline natural gas supply chain after natural gas imports from Russia were suspended in 2022”, Liimatta said.
Eesti Gas, a unit of Estonian investment firm Infortar, is the largest customer of the FSRU in Inkoo and it recently said it will bring an additional US LNG cargo to the facility to cover Finland’s gas consumption.
With this newest cargo, Eesti Gas will receive 12 shipments via the Inkoo FSRU this year.
