Finland's transmission system operator, Gasgrid, said Sept. 2 half of the available capacity at its Inkoo floating LNG terminal had been booked for the calendar year 2025 during its annual allocation process.
The operator said out of a total of 22 available slots offered for next year, 11 slots were reserved, adding it would proceed with "market-driven" scheduling in cooperation with terminal customers.
Once confirmed, the operator said it would publish its exact program, and open the remaining slots for booking no later than Nov. 25, 2024, according to Rasmus Hellman, Commercial Manager at the Inkoo LNG terminal.
"At this stage, reservations have been made according to the number of slots and only at the scheduling stage will we see how the reserved slots will be scheduled for next year. The terminal hopes that the slots will be evenly distributed throughout the year," Hellman added.
Gasgrid said it offers its LNG terminal slots based on terminal vessel capacity and gas demand. The operator opened its capacity allocation procedure on July 15, 2024, with applicants having until Aug. 15 to submit requests.
If spots remain unallocated during the process, Gasgrid said it would offer the capacity on the spot market.
Finland's reliance on LNG intensified towards the end of 2023 and the start of 2024, after the Balticconnector gas pipeline was moved offline for six months on Oct. 8 last year due to damage.
On April 22, 2024, Gasgrid confirmed the restart of the subsea pipeline, which connects Finland with Estonia and provides Finnish customers with access to the Inčukalns underground gas storage facility in Latvia.
In an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights in May 2024, Gasgrid CEO Olli Sipila said LNG would remain an integral part of Finland's energy mix in the coming years, adding market participants in the region were increasingly accommodating LNG.
Finnish LNG imports so far in 2024 are close to exceeding total import levels last year, with the country importing some 1.22 million mt of LNG so far this year, compared to 1.24 million mt in 2023, Commodity Insights data showed.
The bulk of imports -- 660,000 mt -- have arrived from Norway, while Finland imported 340,000 mt of LNG from the US, according to the data.
It comes as Atlantic LNG prices continue to rise, largely on the back of supply concerns and extended Norwegian gas maintenance.
Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed the DES Northwest Europe LNG spot price for October at $12.583/MMBtu on Aug. 30, up by 1.17% on the day. (September 2, 2024)
FINLAND - LNG - SUPPLIES - IMPORTS - EXPORTS