Half of the available capacity for calendar year 2025 has been reserved at the Gasgrid-operated LNG terminal in Inkoo during the Annual Allocation. Operational flexibility, security of supply, and seamless cooperation between stakeholders enable stable, efficient, and customer-oriented terminal operations. The Inkoo LNG terminal has established itself as a key part of the Finnish energy market during its operation. As the clean transition progresses, the terminal will become even more important.
A total of 22 slots were offered for annual capacity reservations, of which 11 were reserved. As per the terminal rules, the process will proceed to the scheduling of the slots reserved for 2025, which will be a market-driven process in cooperation with the terminal customers. “Once the schedules are confirmed, we will publish the exact program and at the same time open the remaining spot slots for booking. We aim to make the announcement as soon as possible, but following terminal rules, no later than 25 November 2024,” says Rasmus Hellman, Commercial Manager at the LNG terminal. “At this stage, reservations have been made according to the number of slots and only at the scheduling stage will we see how the reserved slots will be scheduled for next year. The terminal hopes that the slots will be evenly distributed throughout the year,” Hellman adds.
Overview of the booking process: Terminal offers capacity to be reserved in slots
The terminal offers capacity in slots corresponding to standardized LNG volumes and periods, i.e. scheduled cargoes based on terminal vessel capacity and gas demand.
When terminal customers book capacity, they are in effect buying the terminal’s regasification service for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, which they have purchased on the global market and delivered to the terminal in LNG tankers.
In simple terms, capacity, i.e. slots, are allocated before the start of the calendar year through an annual capacity allocation procedure or during the gas year through spot allocation. Under the annual capacity allocation procedure, the terminal announces the number of slots available for the whole gas year and the customers, i.e. the reserving customers, inform the terminal of the number of slots they wish to reserve. The number of desired slots is then divided by the total number of slots offered, resulting in reserve allocation percentages per reserve, according to which the capacity is allocated to the customers. Finally, the slots for the calendar year, i.e. the delivery of LNG cargoes to the terminal, can be scheduled.
If slots remain unallocated in the annual capacity allocation, they are offered as spot allocation. In the spot allocation, the terminal will indicate the available slots for the year, as well as their volumes and dates. Customers inform the terminal of their preferred free slots, and they are allocated to eligible customers in the order of their reservation.
The LNG will be vaporized at the terminal, after which the natural gas can be fed into the Finnish gas transmission network. In the gas transmission network, gases can be transported to wholesale markets, for example to end-users in the transmission network, such as industry, or to retail markets, for example to retailers who supply gas to end-users through smaller gas distribution networks.
Further information and media contacts: viestintä@gasgrid.fi
Gasgrid’s LNG terminal in Inkoo supplies gas to industry, energy production, and households. LNG is stored, vaporised, and fed into the national gas transmission network and the Balticconnector gas pipeline to the Baltic states. The terminal started commercial operations in January 2023 and is operated by Gasgrid’s subsidiary, Floating LNG Terminal Finland Oy.