HELSINKI —
Finland and Estonia said Sunday that the undersea Baltic connector gas pipeline running between the two countries across the Baltic Sea was temporarily taken out of service due to a suspected leak.“
Based on observations, it was suspected that the offshore pipeline between Finland and Estonia was leaking,” Gasgrid Finland said in a statement. “The valves in the offshore pipeline are now closed and the leak is thus stopped.”
- The Finnish operator gave no reason for the suspected leak and said it was investigating together with Elering.
- In September 2022, the Nord Stream gas pipelines running between Germany and Russia in the Baltic Sea were hit by explosions in an incident deemed to be sabotage. A total of four gas leaks were discovered on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. The case remains unsolved.
The length of the offshore part of the Balticconnector running from Inkoo to the Estonian port of Paldiski is 77 kilometers (48 miles) long. The pipeline started commercial operations at the beginning of 2020.
- “The failure of the Balticconnector does not cause immediate problems for the security of energy supply. The causes of the pipe damage are being investigated and further actions will depend on them,” he said in a statement.
- Finland and Estonia are both European Union and NATO members that border Russia and stopped importing Russian oil and gas since 2022, as part of sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
The length of the offshore part of the Balticconnector running from Inkoo to the Estonian port of Paldiski is 77 kilometers (48 miles) long. The pipeline started commercial operations at the beginning of 2020.
Kai Mykkänen, Finland’s minister of climate and the environment, said the state of the Nordic country's gas system remains stable despite the disruption of the pipeline that enables gas deliveries from Finland to the three Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania — and vice versa.
“The failure of the Balticconnector does not cause immediate problems for the security of energy supply. The causes of the pipe damage are being investigated and further actions will depend on them,” he said in a statement.
Finland and Estonia are both European Union and NATO members that border Russia and stopped importing Russian oil and gas since 2022, as part of sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
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Estonia-Finland Gas Pipeline Shut after Suspected Leak
Gasgrid Finland Oy reported Sunday “an unusual drop in pressure” in a Baltic Sea gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland and implemented an indefinite shutdown, while a probe is being launched.
“The state of the Finnish gas system is stable and supply of gas has been secured through the Inkoo floating LNG terminal for the time being”, Finland’s state-owned Gasgrid assured after the incident on the Balticconnector, which is co-owned with Estonian state company Elering AS.
In its own notice of the incident, Elering also said it does not affect the stability of supply for users in Estonia.
The incident happened “in the small hours of October 8”, Gasgrid said in a press release on its website. “Based on observations, it was suspected that the offshore pipeline between Finland and Estonia was leaking”, it said. “The valves in the offshore pipeline are now closed and the leak is thus stopped”.
“Gasgrid Finland and Elering are preparing an operation to investigate the cause of the suspected leak and locate the possible leak point”, Gasgrid added.
“Gas transmission pipeline inspection and repair operations require careful planning and compliance with permit processes”, it noted. “The necessary preliminary measures have been initiated, and it is believed that actual inspection measures can be carried out soon. It will most likely take at least a few days to get to inspecting the pipe itself”.
If a leak resulting from a damage is confirmed, repair may take several months, it said.
“Gasgrid Finland has assessed the extent of gas released in the suspected leak, and will report the results to environmental authorities in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act after the results are confirmed”, it added.
Launched into commercial use January 2020, Balticconnector is the first gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland, according to a news release at the time by the European Union Directorate-General of Energy announcing the startup of the EU-funded project. While the pipeline is bidirectional, most of the gas arriving in Estonia from Finland is forwarded to Latvia, according to Elering.
Balticconnector is linked to Finland’s floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Port of Inkoo, where gas from the pipeline is delivered to Baltic states, as well as Poland, according to Gasgrid.
“The situation in the Finnish gas market has remained stable, and the supply of gas has been secured through the Inkoo LNG floating terminal”, Gasgrid said. “The terminal has the capacity and the ability to deliver the gas Finland needs in the coming winter as well, even though gas consumption is typically higher in winter seasons”.
The 954.72 feet (291 meters) long facility can contain about 68,000 metric tons of LNG, and its annual vaporization capacity of 40 terawatt hours exceeds Finland’s yearly natural gas consumption, according to a Gasgrid press release March 3. It is the first LNG terminal in Finland, which does not have its own natural gas production.
Elering also said in its announcement of the suspected leak, “The accident does not affect the gas supply to Estonian consumers”.
“After the shutdown of Balticconnector, gas reaches Estonian consumers from Latvia”, it added.
8 Oct, 2023 14:17HomeWorld News
Baltic Sea gas pipeline shut down over suspected leak
An undersea gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia is temporarily out of service after gas system companies in both countries observed an unexpected drop in pressure likely caused by a leak, its operators have said.
Gronlund said the pipeline, which is capable of flowing in either direction depending on requirements, was transporting around 30 gigawatt hours of gas each day from Finland to Estonia at the time of the fault.
Gasgrid also said gas “has been secured through the Inkoo floating LNG terminal for the time being.”
The 48 mile (77km) Baltic connector pipeline links Inkoo in Finland and the Estonian port town of Paldiski, and across the Gulf of Finland – a stretch of the Baltic Sea that extends in Russian waters towards the port of St. Petersburg. The pipeline began its commercial operations in early 2020.
- In September of last year, the Nord Stream pipelines transporting gas between Russia and Germany in the Baltic Sea were hit by underwater explosions which led to four leaks. The incidents, which remain unsolved, are considered by authorities to have been sabotage.
- In February, American journalist Seymour Hersh cited anonymous sources from the intelligence community in a report claiming that US President Joe Biden had ordered the CIA to blow up the pipelines. He added that the operation was conducted in conjunction with the Norwegian Navy and that a NATO exercise in the region was used as cover. Washington has denied having any role in the sabotage.
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