Excelerate Energy and Gasgrid sign 10-year FSRU charter agreement

Excelerate Energy and Gasgrid Finland have signed a ten-year deal to charter a floating storage and regasification vessel (FSRU) that will provide LNG to Finland, Estonia, and the Baltic Sea Region.

Under the time charter party agreement, Excelerate will deploy its Exemplar FSRU to provide regasification services in Southern Finland. The vessel has a storage capacity of 150,900 cbm of LNG and can provide more than five billion cubic meters per year of regasification capacity.

This floating LNG terminal is to provide energy security and supply diversification to Finland while also serving more broadly the needs of the Baltic Sea region.

On 4 May, Gasgrid Finland and Estonia’s gas transmission operator Elering signed a cooperation agreement. Per this agreement, the FSRU may be located in an Estonian port this winter if the port structures are not yet completed in Finland.

The governments of both countries published a memorandum of understanding on 29 April agreeing to jointly lease an FSRU.

“Flexible access to LNG is a critical component of European energy security,” said Steven Kobos, CEO of Excelerate. “Excelerate is proud to support the goals of the U.S.-EU Task Force for Energy Security, which include diversifying LNG supplies in alignment with climate objectives.”

Olli Sipilä, CEO of Gasgrid said: “We are glad that we were able to sign the agreement on such a fast schedule.”

“Leasing an LNG terminal vessel is extremely important, as it ensures security of supply for gas supplies in both Finland and Estonia. On the other hand, we see that there is a need for the terminal in the wider Baltic Sea region and it has been received with interest.”