The European Commission has on Friday approved Finland’s plans to grant €28 million for the construction of a small-scale LNG terminal at Hamina, on the country’s south-east coast.
The project is “in line with EU energy and environmental objectives” and would improve security of supply in the Baltic Sea region, the Commission said in its statement.
“ The Hamina LNG terminal is one of several planned in Finland. These small scale LNG terminals will provide a new source of cleaner fuel for the maritime industry and diversify Finland’s gas supply sources ,” Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy , said.
There are currently no LNG terminals in operation in Finland, which is dependent on one source for its gas imports, Russia.
Skangas, a unit of Gasum, is currently building Finland’s first LNG terminal at the oil and chemical harbor Tahkoluoto in the Port of Pori. The Pori LNG project received €23 million from Finland after the funds were approved by the Commission in September last year.
The Hamina project is part of Finland’s plans to create a network of small LNG terminals with the aim of offering LNG fuelling stations for ships and ensuring an additional source of gas for Finland.
The LNG terminal will also contribute to the development of infrastructure supporting alternative fuels in a port that is part of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), the statement said.
The terminal will have a storage capacity of 30 000 m³. The public funding of €28 million will cover 30% of the total investment costs; the remainder will be funded by the developer and future owner of the terminal, Hamina Energy.
1 Euro = 1.12745 U.S. dollars
LNG World News Staff