Finland's Hamina LNG Terminal Takes FID

Hamina LNG, a joint venture import terminal being developed by Finnish and Estonian firms, has reached financial close and received the necessary building permits, its contractor Wartsila said May 17.

Wartsila, the Finnish turnkey contractor chosen to build the terminal at the port of Hamina in southeast Finland, said it is joining the project through a minority investment by its subsidiary WDFS (Wartsila Development and Financial Services). However, Hamina LNG's principal shareholders will remain Finnish energy distributor Hamina Energia and the Estonian energy group Alexela.

Total investment is about €100mn ($118mn); debt financing for the project has been concluded with Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken and Finnvera, the Finnish state-owned specialised financing company. 

In the first stage, a 30,000 m³ LNG storage tank will be built; facilities are also being prepared for a second 20,000 m³ storage tank to be added at a later date; earthmoving has been completed on schedule, and the construction work has already commenced, said Wartsila, adding that the LNG terminal is planned to become fully operational in 2020.

Hamina Energy CEO Markku Tommiska said the new terminal will not only supply businesses and the shipping sector, but also feed into its gas distribution grid and can be connected to Finland’s gas grid. 

Wartsila Energy Solutions vice president for LNG Alexandre Eykerman said: “The Hamina project is the third LNG terminal in Finland that Wartsila has been contracted to build, the others being the Manga Tornio terminal [northern Finland] and the Raahe terminal. This demonstrates the strengths the company has in project development and management."

Finland's first LNG import terminal at Pori on the country's west coast was opened by Skangas in September 2016. LNG for commissioning was delivered to Manga Tornio last year but full commercial operation is due mid-2018. Together, cargoes into these facilities meant that Finland in 2017 received 0.05mn metric tons (equivalent to 70,000 m³ once regasified), which was up 197% on the 2016 imports.

Hamina is 145km east of the capital Helsinki, so close to the Russian border.