The under-construction terminal is similar to one in use in Klaipeda, Lithuania and is being installed in order to completely decouple from Russian natural gas imports, and will also have the capacity to supply Finland with LNG.

Timo Tatar, undersecretary at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, told AK that: "We are on schedule for the end of November. By the end of November, the LNG infrastructure, the quay itself and that located on the quay, will be ready to receive LNG from the ship."

The vessel itself would be replenished by LNG brought in on other ships.

"The Finns have signed a lease agreement for the vessel, and now an agreement on the details of when exactly the ship will come here is needed," Tatar went on.

Nonetheless, head of connections at state grid distributor Elering said that guarantees of being ready by November could not be given at this point, telling AK that: "We cannot guarantee that we will be ready by November. Taking into account the situation globally, one where there is a shortage of building materials, supply chain problems and other issues, we will, however, do everything in our powers to be ready by November."

Another guarantee Heinla was this time able to give concerned the supply of gas to Finland.

He said: "This is the kind of pipeline through which the entire Finnish gas supply is guaranteed. And we will also connect the shipping connection to this pipeline."

The Balticonnector pipeline linking Estonia and Finland opened in December 2019.

On the Estonian side of the Gulf of Finland, AK reported, the pipeline connecting the vessel to the gas compressor station located on dry land will be approximately 1.2 km in length (see cover image).

Private investors are constructing the berth, while state grid company Elering has started the construction of the pipeline connection facility on the quay.

The quayside work began in May, though Elering began its work this month; Elering says it has the bulk of the materials needed to complete the work.

The vessel will be leased in Finland but located off Paldiski, Timo Tartar said.

This part of the arrangement still needs finalizing, though, Tatar, it is likely to involve only one vessel at this point in time and not two, as had been suggested as a possible solution.

Fuel company Alexela has completed the necessary dredging work and says the 1.2km ship-to-shore pipeline work is progressing.

Estonia's annual natural gas consumption stands at around 5TWh, which the terminal will be able to satisfy in addition to serving Finland. The state will also be holding 1TWh natural gas in reserve.

LNG as its name suggests is transported in liquid form and then re-gassified once offloaded.

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