Investing in infrastructure that unites

Jean-Claude Juncker (President of the European Commission), Taavi Rõivas (Prime Minister of Estonia) and Juha Sipilä (Prime Minister of Finland) have recently witnessed the signing of a €187 million investment in the Balticconnector.

The Balticconnector is the first gas pipeline to connect Finland and Estonia When gas starts flowing by 2020, this project will unite the Eastern Baltic Sea region with the rest of the EU energy market. Therefore, the interconnector will end the energy isolation of Finland, which is, at present, largely dependent on a single supplier.

The Balticconnector will consist of three sections: 22 km Finnish onshore, 80 km offshore and 50 km Estonian onshore. It enables the transport of 7.2 million m³/d of gas, with flows running in both directions.

Juncker welcomed the investment: "Today's signature shows that the European Union delivers and unites. It is the result of close co-operation and a proof of true European solidarity. […] As part of the Energy Union, we are building missing energy links, uniting markets, improving security of supply and ending the energy isolation of Member States."

Rõivas said: "Balticconnector signifies a key development for Nordic-Baltic energy market integration, for region's security and diversity of supply and for consumer benefit. Regional co-operation and EU's contribution allows for a change from entirely closed to one of the most diversified and open regional energy markets in the Union with further prospects in upcoming years."

Sipilä added: "Balticconnector is an important milestone in helping to complete EU wide energy market and improving the security of supply in Baltic Sea region."

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/24102016/investing-in-infrastructure-that-unites/