Excelerate Energy's floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Exemplar arrived at the port of Inkoo, Finland on 28 December, ahead of its 10-year commitment with Gasgrid Finland Oy. The FSRU was previously loaded with a partial cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) which will serve as the initial commissioning cargo for the terminal.
“The arrival of the FSRU Exemplar at the port of Inkoo represents an important milestone for Finland as it prepares to enhance its energy security and bring essential energy infrastructure to the region,” said Steven Kobos, president and CEO of Excelerate.
In addition to providing regasification services under the charter with Gasgrid, Excelerate, through its recently formed Finnish gas marketing subsidiary, Excelerate Finland Gas Marketing Oy, has executed an agreement for the sale of commissioning volumes and regasification capacity rights during the commissioning phase. With this agreement, Excelerate Finland will be able to provide natural gas to downstream customers in Finland and other Baltic countries.
The FSRU Exemplar departed drydock in Spain on 6 December where it underwent customer-requested winterization upgrades. The vessel subsequently procured its cargo from Excelerate’s global LNG portfolio via a ship-to-ship transfer with the FSRU Excelsior near Gibraltar. The Excelsior recently completed its 10-year service in Israel and will go on charter to the Federal Republic of Germany in 2023.
Excelerate and Gasgrid signed the contract for use of theExemplar last May. Per an agreement signed on 4 May by Gasgrid Finland and Estonia’s gas transmission operator Elering, the FSRU could be in an Estonian port this winter if the required port structures are not completed in Finland. The governments of Finland and Estonia published a memorandum of understanding on 29 April agreeing to jointly lease an FSRU.
The FSRU Exemplar is 291 m long and 43 m wide and boasts storage capacity of 150,900 m3 of LNG. The vessel can provide more than 5 billion m3 per year of regasification capacity.
The vessel spent last winter in Argentina delivering gas at the port city of Bahia Blanca.
