Finnish grid operator Gasgrid has chartered Exemplar for 10 years at a total cost of €460 million.
The Exemplar floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) arrived at the Finnish port of Inkoo on Wednesday and is on schedule to start feeding gas into the Finnish grid, and beyond, by mid-January.
Texas-based vessel owner Excelerate Energy and Finnish gas grid operator Gasgrid said in separate statements that the FSRU is moored at Finland’s first LNG terminal and almost ready to start replacing the Russian natural gas that is no longer arriving in the country.
“The LNG floating terminal project is highly important for Finnish society as a whole and today we are making Finnish economic history in many ways, said Gasgrid’s CEO Olli Sipila.
“Finland will permanently phase out its dependency on Russian gas and will greatly improve the country’s security of supply. This is the first time ever that an (FSRU) has brought liquefied national gas to Finland.”
Gasgrid leased the 291-metre-long FSRU for 10 years at a total cost of €460 million from the Texas-based Excelerate Energy in an agreement reached in May this year.
“The arrival of the FSRU Exemplar at the port of Inkoo represents an important milestone for Finland as it prepares to enhance its energy security and bring essential energy infrastructure to the region,” said President and CEO of Excelerate Steven Kobos.
Apart from providing regasification services under the time charter with Gasgrid, Excelerate struck an agreement for the sale of commissioning volumes and regasification capacity rights during the commissioning phase, according to the US-based company’s own statement.
Through this agreement, Excelerate Finland will be able to sell gas to downstream customers in Finland and other Baltic countries.
The FSRU can potentially supply LNG to Poland through the bidirectional Balticconnector pipeline.
Sipila added: “The aim is that the terminal’s customers will begin to distribute gas to meet the needs of Finnish industry, energy production and households from mid-January 2023 onwards.”
