By making targeted investments into the Lithuanian gas infrastructure and its interconnection with neighboring countries, the gas transmission to the Baltic States increased 2.6-fold last year if compared to 2018, and reached almost 6 TWh of gas.
According to the Lithuanian gas transmission system operator Amber Grid, during this period, the flow of gas to Latvia and Estonia made a fifth (20 percent) of the total amount of the introduced gas intended for consumers in Lithuania and the other Baltic States.
According to Nemunas Biknius , the acting CEO of Amber Grid, the amount of the gas transmitted in the direction of Latvia has increased 10-fold over several recent years. The result achieved in 2019 is the highest ever recorded result of gas transportation to Latvia.
“Lithuania’s well-developed gas infrastructure, i.e. Klaipėda LNG terminal and a developed and properly maintained gas transmission system, has proved to be effective. Timely investments allowed Lithuanian market participants as well as participants of other states of the Baltic market to make use of very favorable gas prices. The interaction between the low prices and the well-used infrastructure evidences that the market operates and that Lithuania has become a crossroad of the regional gas market,” says Nemunas Biknius.
According to him, Lithuania’s role in the common regional gas market will become more significant at the end of 2021 after the construction of the gas interconnection with Poland is accomplished.
As far as the competitiveness of LNG in the market is concerned, the gas transportation via Klaipėda LNG terminal also reached its record level. Last year, the gas import via the LNG terminal reached 65 percent (19.6 TWh) of the total amount of gas transported to the EU market via Lithuania. In 2018, this indicator reached only 35 percent, Lithuanian Ministry of Energy noted in its report.
Lithuania’s gas consumption increased by 1.2 TWh or 5 percent over 2019, and the total amount of gas consumed in Lithuania amounted to 23.5 TWh.
Last year, a total of 30 TWh of natural gas was transported to Lithuania, except for gas transportation to the Kaliningrad. It is 20 percent more if compared to 2018, when a total of 25 TWh of natural gas was transported to Lithuania.
In 2019, gas transportation to the Kaliningrad via Lithuania amounted to 26 TWh, 6.6 percent less than in 2018, when the amount of natural gas transported to Kaliningrad via Lithuania reached 27.8 TWh.
The decrease was due to a warmer-than-usual winter and the testing of Kaliningrad LNG Terminal performed at the beginning of the year, the ministry said.
Gas is also supplied to Lithuania via Klaipėda liquefied natural gas terminal as well as from Russia via Belarus and Latvia. During the cold period, gas is usually supplied from Latvia’s Inčukalns underground storage facility.
In the future, after the construction of the gas pipe interconnection between Poland and Lithuania is accomplished at the end of 2021, one more alternative source of gas supply will be developed, which will assure the supply of gas from Western Europe and other sources via Poland to Lithuania, the other Baltic States and Finland, the ministry said.