Estonia, Finland Make Progress With Gas Link

The offshore section of a pipeline allowing Finland to tap northern European gas supplies via Estonia has been completed, one of its operators announced on August 5.

Balticconnector is slated to go online by the end of this year, and will be capable of flowing more than 2.6bn m³/yr from Estonia to Finland and vice-versa.

Its 77-km offshore portion between Inkoo in Finland and Paldiski in Estonia is now complete, Finland’s Baltic Connector confirmed in a statement.

“Pressure tests have been carried out for the offshore pipeline, followed by emptying and drying the pipe to enable gas transmission,” it said.

Baltic Connector is developing the pipeline with Estonian counterpart Elering. Swiss-based Allseas secured a contract to lay the offshore section last year, while Greece’s Corinth Pipeworks mill was selected to supply pipes.

The project also comprises a 21-km onshore pipeline between Inkoo and Siuntio in Finland and a 55-km segment linking Paldiski with Kiili in Estonia, as well compression and metering facilities.

Listed as an EU project of common interest and hence eligible for public financial support, Balticconector will enable Finland, whose only major gas supplier is Russia, to access alternative supplies from LNG terminals in Lithuania and Poland, as well as piped gas from Norway. It won financial support from Brussels in late 2018.