“Estonia does not want to finance Putin’s war against Ukraine, which we inevitably do by purchasing energy carriers. Gaining independence from Russian gas also plays a part in our national security. The Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure was given the mandate to move forward with the steps necessary to equip Paldiski with liquefied natural gas reception capability. “We are working towards making our region independent from Russian gas deliveries within this year,” explained Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.
“Abandoning Russia’s energy products was the right decision to stop funding the war machine as quickly as possible. Considering the current turbulent energy market, ensuring Estonia’s energy security requires investments in creating the necessary infrastructure for Estonia to be able to receive liquefied natural gas. Above all this means making preparations for the completion of the required hauling quay and its connection with Balticconnector by autumn,” explained Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Taavi Aas. “The goal is to ensure that the LNG terminal in Paldiski could already being operations by November, if necessary.
The European Union has committed to breaking free from Russian natural gas as quickly as possible, but by the end of the decade at the latest. Owing to the geopolitical situation, the likelihood of Russa’s gas deliveries being interrupted or cut off earlier has increased. The region encompassing Latvia, Estonia and Finland is highly dependent on Russian gas deliveries and interruption thereof would result in a failure to cover approx. 45% of the annual consumption of the region, most of which concerns Finland.
Estonia and Finland also have access to the Lithuanian LNG terminal, but this alone is insufficient to fully supply the whole region with gas. Additionally, Estonia and Finland are prevented from making full use of the Lithuanian terminal due to the limited gas network capacity between Latvia and Lithuania. Therefore, the region must be equipped with additional LNG reception capability already this year, which would provide the Baltic States and Finland the opportunity to cut off Russian gas deliveries at their own initiative should they wish.