The terminal is part of an effort to meet Estonia's annual natural gas consumption needs, estimated at 5TWh, while decoupling from supplies from the Russian Federation. LNG as its name suggests is transported in liquid form via ship and then regassified on terra firma, for supply to consumers.

The work has gone to plan, Reedik Raudla, construction manager at the Pakrineeme Sadam, the company overseeing the terminal, said, telling AK that:. "This is a mooring pier, to which an almost 400m-long gas tanker, or Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU)  ship will be anchored."

"Following that, a waterborne connection is created via a gas pipeline which connects directly to the [land-based] compressor station and then the Balticconnector [Finland-Estonia undersea gas pipeline]," Raudla went on.

Gas and electricity supplier Elering says the ship-to-shore pipeline will be finished by November 30, while Estonian investors say that the overall facility at Paldiski will be ready earlier than its equivalent on the other side of the Gulf of Finland, at Inkoo.

A spokesperson for Finnish natural gas supplier Gasgrid told AK that both terminals will be ready by December, providing a choice, meaning Paldiski may remain a back-up terminal for now.

Estonian firms who can take advantage of the Paldiski facility include Alexela and Eesti Gaas, who are due Wednesday to hand over to Elering on Wednesday.

Timo Tatar, deputy secretary general for energy at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, told AK that: "One aspect of the agreement is that over the longer term, this vessel will remain in the market where consumption is higher, which is definitely the Finnish side. Even if the infrastructure here on the Estonian side should end up without a ship for a large part of the time, however, from the point of view of Estonia's energy security, it will definitely bring an important contribution in any case."

Tatar added that it is not known for certain which side the FSRU vessel, not just a theoretical ship but actually on its way from Argentina, will be moored yet, though the ship is leased by Gasgrid.

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