Conexus: Natural gas will be supplied to Latvia in full from LNG terminals

As from 1 January 2023, the Latvian natural gas supply of the Russian Federation will not be affected by the suspension of natural gas supplies by law, as the market has already refocused this year by organising the natural gas supply from the Klaipeda LNG terminal (LNG), informs the single natural gas transmission and storage operator AS “Conexus Baltic Grid” (Conexus). As of next year, two such sources will already exist in the region, starting with the Finnish Inkoo LNG terminal.

In order to ensure the safe and predictable availability of natural gas, natural gas traders have already actively diversified their natural gas supply sources and made natural gas supplies from Klaipeda LNG, with a significant increase in the amount of natural gas received from Lithuania, reaching 17.6 TWh by 1 December 2022. On the other hand, the volume of natural gas received from Russia during the eleven months of this year was 73% lower than in the same period last year.

It should be stressed that on 1 January 2023, the requirement of the Energy Law regarding the ban on natural gas supplies from Russia enters into force in Latvia. Conexus informs that not only Latvian natural gas infrastructure, but also system users are prepared for it.

“As of this year, market participants have been aware of the risks and made responsible diversification of supply sources without relying on natural gas flows from Russia. Meanwhile, from 2023 infrastructure improvements, Inchualns' underground gas storage and two LNG terminals in our region will make natural gas supply safer than it has been up to now,” stresses Uldis Bariss, Chairman of Conexus Board.

He points out that appropriate rules for the use of the transmission system have been developed and harmonised with the Commission for the regulation of public services, which prevent the supply of natural gas from Russia, but transit flows from Russia to Kaliningrad will be possible through the single Estonian-Latvian market area. At the same time, the request for the allocation of transit capacity set out in the transit communication will be rejected in order to reduce the impact on other users of the system and to promote security of supply.