Vopak ready to set up €250 million regional LNG terminal in Estonia
Vopak E.O.S., the largest independent oil product terminal operator in the Baltics, which wishes to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Muuga, east of Tallinn, also remains ready to set up an additional regional terminal that is estimated to cost approximately 250 million euros.
"The Tallinn LNG terminal is one of the projects to which the EU has given priority and which is eligible for support," Vopak spokesperson Olga van Kampen told BNS. "The size of the investment depends on the size of the terminal planned for the Muuga port. The estimated cost of the regional terminal is approximately 250 million euros.
She added that a smaller terminal meant for the bunkering and loading of trucks that would serve as the first stage of the regional terminal would cost approximately 50 million euros. The company has previously stated that it would like to launch the first stage of the terminal in 2017, and to expand it into a regional terminal by 2019.
The project to set up an LNG terminal in Tallinn is on the priorities list of the Baltic Energy market Interconnection Plan in Gas (BEMIP Gas), a list of common-interest energy infrastructure projects in Europe which was updated in 2015. The Muuga project is seen as an alternative to a similar project currently being developed by energy firm Alexela. In a PCI document, the European Commission stated that it is a priority to develop one of the two terminals — either the Alexela terminal at Paldiski, or Vopak's at Muuga.
In October 2015, Alexela Group company Balti Gaas OÜ submitted an application in a round of Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) calls for proposals for securing funding for the construction of an LNG terminal in Paldiski. Vopak E.O.S. decided not to apply.
"With any terminal, the exact configuration will depend on to how great an extent the EU will co-finance the Balticconnector project," Vopak E.O.S. CEO Arnout Lugtmeijer explained. "Only the can the detailed parameters of the funding application for the Tallinn LNG terminal to be built at Muuga be set out. The application can be filed only once, and it must very precisely describe the technical configuration of the proposed LNG terminal, which depends upon the solution adopted for the Balticconnector and the timetable of its completion."
In mid-July, EU member states approved a European Commission proposal to allocate 187.5 million euros from the CEF to Estonia and Finland for the establishment of the Balticconnector gas interconnection between the two countries.
Editor: Editor: Aili Sarapik
Source: BNS
