The Chairman of the Alexela Council, Marti Hääl, said on Friday at the special meeting of the Riigikogu The unicameral parliament of Estonia. State Budget Control Special Committee that if the private companies building the haulage vessels necessary to receive the liquefied natural gas (LNG) floating terminal in Paldiski use the sale option offered by the state, they will lose 10-12 million euros in the project.
With this year's additional budget, the government allocated 170 million euros to the Estonian Reserve Center for the formation of a national gas reserve, of which 38 million euros were later decided to be directed as a guarantee to Alexela and Infortar, which are developing haulage vessels, in case it is not possible to recoup the investment made in the quay in other ways.
According to Hääl, however, the funds allocated to the inventory center do not cover the entire investment of the private sector, but about two-thirds of it, because in addition to the funds spent on construction this year, Alexela has been investing in the development process of the project for years.
"If we can now come to an agreement with the state on the part that was allocated to the Estonian Reserve Center by the government, it means that we have set a world record, completed the infrastructure, we can give it to the state with a loss of approximately 10-12 million, and with that, for us, it is stage is over," Hääl said.
Alexela's council chairman also noted that the wharf construction is on schedule in the spring, the last concrete pour will take place on Monday, and the facility should be ready by the end of October.
All of Estonia's national gas reserves will be located in the Incukalns storage facility in Latvia. Estonia has purchased 650 gigawatt-hours of natural gas as a crisis reserve in four tenders and paid an average of 204 euros per megawatt-hour.