{"id":6621,"date":"2026-07-23T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/techy\/en\/?p=6621"},"modified":"2026-07-22T10:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T15:15:23","slug":"finlands-e460-million-lng-ship-loses-money-every-year-but-the-real-payoff-isnt-the-one-youd-assume","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/techy\/en\/finlands-e460-million-lng-ship-loses-money-every-year-but-the-real-payoff-isnt-the-one-youd-assume\/6621\/","title":{"rendered":"Finland’s \u20ac460 million LNG ship loses money every year, but the real payoff isn’t the one you’d assume"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Finland moved with unusual speed after Russia\u2019s pipeline gas supply was cut in May 2022. The country signed a 10-year, $487 million charter with U.S.-based Excelerate Energy for the FSRU Exemplar, a floating terminal that can receive liquefied natural gas from the global market and feed it into the Finnish network. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result was a clear energy-security victory, but environmentally, the picture is more complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vessel reached Inkoo in December 2022 and commercial operations began on January 16, 2023. Gasgrid Finland says the terminal remains operational and Russian gas imports through it are prohibited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In practical terms, Finland replaced one politically vulnerable pipeline with access to a global fuel market, though the climate cost depends on how the LNG is produced, shipped, and used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fast exit from Russian gas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gazprom Export told Finnish energy company Gasum on May 20, 2022, that deliveries would stop the next morning after Finland rejected a demand to pay in rubles<\/a>. The cutoff took effect at 7 a.m. local time on May 21, while Gasum turned to other supplies delivered through the Balticconnector pipeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe LNG terminal will allow us to become independent of Russian gas,\u201d Finance Minister Annika Saarikko said when the charter was announced. Finland and Estonia had already agreed to pursue a shared floating terminal, with Gasgrid Finland leading the vessel lease and Estonia\u2019s Elering involved in the regional plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 10-year lease was estimated at $487 million, plus expenses linked to use. That commitment sped up the process, since a suitable FSRU could arrive much faster than a permanent terminal could be planned and built. The urgent task was keeping industry and energy production supplied before winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Despite high annual operating costs, Finland’s floating LNG terminal serves as essential insurance against pipeline supply disruptions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A terminal that is also a ship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

FSRU stands for floating storage and regasification unit. LNG arrives by tanker after being cooled into liquid form, is transferred to Exemplar, warmed back into gas aboard the vessel, and sent ashore through a roughly 1.4-mile connection to the national network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exemplar is about 955 feet long and 142 feet wide. When full, it can hold roughly 5.3 million cubic feet of LNG, equal to about 75,000 U.S. tons and around 3.58 trillion Btu of energy. Supply tankers were expected to call two or three times a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excelerate said<\/a> the ship can regasify more than 176.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas each year. It was designed to cover the combined gas needs of Finland and Estonia with room for the wider Baltic market. More than a storage tank, it is a movable gas gateway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Energy infrastructure becomes national defense<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The project sits at the crossroads of business and national security<\/a>. Natural gas accounted for about 5 percent of Finland\u2019s annual energy use at the time, but remained important for industry, combined heat and power production, and some households. That made continuity a strategic issue, not just a commodity trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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