The project of Lithuania’s LNG terminal was the cheapest and could be implemented in the shortest time possible if compared with other LNG projects, according to Nerijus Udrėnas, who pointed out that the Lithuanian port of Klaipėda, the site chosen for the facility, was the northernmost ice-free port on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea.
“The consultants conclude that the regional terminal should be located in Estonia or in Finland, most probably in Finland since that part of the region would remain more vulnerable compared to Lithuania, and also due to the fact that Finland is a rather large gas user.”
“However, the thing is that the prospect of an LNG terminal in Finland is distant – somewhere around 2025 after the expiry of long-term gas supply contracts between Finland and Russia,” Udrėnas said in an interview to Žinių Radijas on Tuesday in comments about the findings of the study conducted for the Commission by the consulting company Booz&Company. The findings suggested that the regional facility should be built in the Gulf of Finland, either in Estonia or in Finland.
He added that the construction of the regional LNG terminal in Finland would also necessitate the development of infrastructure, including the construction of a gas interconnector between Estonia and Finland and enhancements to gas transmission grid capacities in the Baltic countries.
“We will have our terminal in place as early as in the end of 2014. Hence both us and other Baltic countries will benefit from lower gas prices,” Udrėnas said.
Lithuania’s authorities have stated repeatedly that the LNG terminal in Klaipėda will be able to play a regional role and supply gas to the neighboring Baltic countries. Lithuania plans to build its own LNG terminal with the annual capacity of between 2 and 3 billion cubic meters by the end of 2014.
