LNG floating terminal vessel Exemplar has today successfully anchored in the deep harbour at Inkoo, according to Gasgrid Finland's release. Implemented under the leadership of Gasgrid Finland, the LNG floating terminal project will secure the supply of gas to industry, energy production and households as well as safeguard Finland’s security of supply from winter 2023 onwards. The floating terminal vessel turned out to be the fastest and most effective solution to phase out dependency on Russian gas in Finland and to ensure the continuity of gas supplies in Finland in different scenarios far into the future.
The LNG floating terminal vessel Exemplar is 291 m long and 43 m wide, and when fully laden holds around 68,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The project will also enable gas deliveries to the Baltic states and even to Poland through the Balticconnector pipeline. Gasgrid has leased Exemplar for 10 years at a total cost of €460 million.
“The LNG floating terminal project is highly important for Finnish society as a whole and today we are making Finnish economic history in many ways. Finland will permanently phase out its dependency on Russian gas and will greatly improve the Finland’s security of supply. This is the first time ever that an LNG floating terminal has brought liquefied national gas to Finland,” says Sipilä, Gasgrid Finland’s CEO. ”The aim is that the terminal’s customers will begin to distribute gas to meet the needs of Finnish industry, energy production and households from mid-January 2023 onwards.”
The structural strength and tensile strength of Exemplar’s pier and mooring structures are many times those used for normal shipping operations. In addition, a 2.2-km connecting gas pipeline has been built under Gasgrid’s leadership to the gas transmission network. The LNG will undergo regasification aboard the vessel before being transferred via the loading arm to Gasgrid’s gas network.
Gasgrid Finland Oy is a Finnish state-owned company and transmission system operator with system responsibility.