Finland's 1st LNG Terminal Opens

Finland’s first LNG import terminal at Pori on the west coast was officially opened September 12.

Gasum said deliveries to customers began on the same day; the terminal’s operator Skangas is 51% owned by Finnish gas supplier Gasum.

Two months ago the terminal received its first cargo of LNG, from Zeebrugge in Belgium. However, the significance of September 12 was that it marked the end of Pori’s commissioning period, with project manager Neste Jacobs successfully completing engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) for Skangas LNG import terminal during the years 2014 to 2016. The terminal cost over €80mn ($90mn) to build, of which €23mn came from the Finnish government.  

“Pori LNG terminal will develop and diversify the Finnish energy market,” said Gasum CEO Johanna Lamminen, adding that it provides the option of LNG deliveries to customers beyond the gas pipeline network including industrial, maritime and heavy-truck customers.

“The Pori terminal is the first LNG terminal in Finland and we at Skangas are satisfied to have this challenging project successfully completed as planned,” said Tommy Mattila, Skangas’s sales and marketing director. Skangas supplied a total of 376,700 metric tons of LNG (0.5bn m³ gas) across Scandinavia in 2015. 

This is how Finland's second LNG terminal at Tornio will look when completed. Finnish engineering company Wartsila is the contractor at the project now being built at the far north end of the Bay of Bothnia, near the Swedish border (Photo credit: Wartsila)

In addition to Pori, Skangas has LNG production plants and terminals in Risavika, Norway, and Porvoo, Finland, and LNG terminals in Ora in Norway, and Lysekil in Sweden. Construction of the Tornio Manga LNG joint venture terminal is on schedule for completion at Tornio in 2018, added Gasum.

Mark Smedley