Estonian, Latvian ministers visit construction of LNG terminal connection

TALLINN - Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Riina Sikkut on Wednesday met with Latvian Minister of Economics Ilze Indriksone, with whom they visited the construction of the land connection of the Paldiski liquefied natural gas (LNG) floating terminal and discussed the energy security issues of Estonia and Latvia.

"Both Estonia and Latvia have adopted the principle of abandoning natural gas of Russian origin. This means that, as two neighboring countries, we can and must offer each other support in order to cope with the changed conditions in the region as best as possible and to ensure security of energy supply for our consumers even in a tense geopolitical situation. Both the well-being of ordinary consumers and the competitiveness of our business environment depend on it," Sikkut said in a press release.

Latvia and Estonia have several areas of cooperation related to security of supply. Between the two countries, a gas solidarity agreement aimed at protected consumers has been concluded, work is being done to synchronize the electricity system of the Baltic countries to the continental European frequency band, preparations are being made for the construction of the ELWIND offshore wind farm, and the countries have also been storing their natural gas in an underground storage facility in Latvia for years.

Indriksone noted that Latvia also has high expectations for the Paldiski terminal, because it is an anticipated additional source of natural gas alongside the LNG terminal located in Lithuania. Similarly to Estonia, gas consumption has decreased due to rising prices in Latvia, but according to her, this is still an important project to ensure the necessary gas supply.

Sikkut, Indriksone and head of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport Henrik Hololei also went to Paldiski to inspect the construction of the land connection of the LNG terminal. They were welcomed by Alexela management board member Marti Haal and Infortar CEO Martti Talgre, representatives of the companies involved in and responsible for the construction of the LNG port facility. Taavi Veskimagi, CEO of transmission system operator (TSO) Elering, was also present at the meeting.