According to the Lithuanian gas transmission system operator Amber Grid, the inauguration of Balticconnector, the new gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland, which is held today and a free Finnish gas market that will be open as of 1 January 2020 will make a positive impact on the competitiveness, expansion and closer cooperation of the entire regional market.
Nemunas Biknius, the acting CEO of Amber Grid, states that the new gas transmission infrastructure and the gas trade platform in Finland owned by GET Baltic, which will start operating early next year, will provide a wider freedom of choice to gas market participants in relation to gas acquisition, sale, transportation and consumption. This leads to the forecast that bigger competition will further promote gas price convergence in the region.
“The implemented Balticconnector project is particularly significant for our companies: Amber Grid and GET Baltic which provide services throughout the entire region. From now on the gas pipelines will connect as many as four states, including Baltic countries and Finland. Looking at these new opportunities, it is highly important for us to implement the Lithuanian-Polish interconnection project with quality and in a timely manner, and it will give access for all three Baltic countries and Finland to the European gas market,” says Nemunas Biknius, the interim head of Amber Grid.
According to specialists, the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland will primarily increase the security of supply in Finland that currently has the only interconnection with Russia and provide Finland with access to alternative gas sources through Klaipėda LNG Terminal and a gas interconnection with Poland in the future. The joining of Finland will have a positive impact on all countries in the region in terms of an expanded market.
The new link will start transporting gas as of 1 January 2020, when the Finnish gas market will be opened legally. The interconnection capacities are planned to reach 81.2 GWh/day. According to Elering, one of the builders of this link, the Estonian transmission system operator, the interconnection will operate according to half of its capacities during the first stage of operation, until mid-2020, due to unfinished construction of compressor stations, and subsequently the interconnection will reach the planned capacities.
The size of the Finnish gas market is estimated to be equal to the Lithuanian gas market. Like in Lithuania, annual gas consumption in Finland amounts to around 24 TWh. The major share is consumed by the Finnish industry and energy sectors. After the Balticconnector link is put into operation the entire regional market will account for around 65 TWh of gas.
The Balticconnector link is 150 km in length, with the above-ground part being 55 km in Estonia and 21 km in Finland, and the subsea part accounting for 77 km. The project also covers compressor stations on both sides of the bay. The estimated cost of the project is around EUR 300 million, of which EUR 206 million is funded from the European Union and the remaining amount is covered by the Estonian transmission system operator Elering and the Finnish company BalticConnector Oy.
