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Estonia has announced it will start building its own LNG terminal next year, expecting to receive the first cargo by 2019.
The country has already cultivated the idea of building a two-terminals system with Finland, but the idea was temporarily stopped on June 2014 as the European Commission stated they would have not been subsidised. However, following Russian threats to close the natural gas taps in Europe last April and the recent reopening of the Gazprom antitrust case, Estonia has decided to go ahead with the plan without any further confirmation by the Commission. The country has been expecting to receive from 5% to 15% of the 302 million euros requested by the terminal from European funding.
“By August it should be clear whether the European Commission approves of building a regional LNG terminal in the Gulf of Finland. On hearing the decision, we will make a final investment decision in September and declare an international construction tender... If the European Union does not support the construction, we will build it ourselves,” said Marti Haal, an Board member of the Estonian Alexela Holding, working also in the oil and gas sector.
The region has already an operating LNG facility, the Lithuanian Klaipeda, which is already able to fully supply the Baltic States and provides Estonia with 20% of its energy imports.Thanks to its connections with the Scandinavian power market, the country benefits from the least dependence from Russia and the lowest electricity price in the region.
