Finland, Estonia apply for EU funds for Balticconnector

Finland and Estonia have in this autumn’s European Union PCI (Projects of Common Interest) application round applied together for funding for the Balticconnector gas pipeline, which will connect the two countries.

A state-owned company Baltic Connector has been established to implement Finland’s part of the pipeline, while Elering Gaas will be responsible for Estonia’s part, Finnish Ministry of the Employment and the Economy informed in a statement.

The companies submitted a joint EU funding application for the Balticconnector gas pipeline on 14 October 2015. At the same time, other parties responsible for projects will apply for funding for other projects that are important for the development of the Baltic gas market.

The Balticconnector gas pipeline cannot be implemented without substantial European investment support, the ministry said, adding that the precondition for implementing the project is 75 percent investment support from EU’s CEF (Connecting Europe Facility).

Balticconnector would make it possible to join and integrate the gas markets in the Baltic states and Finland into EU’s common energy market. In addition, constructing a gas infrastructure in the other Baltic states enables two-way gas transmission between Estonia and Latvia, which together with Balticconnector provides Finland and Estonia with a possibility to use an underground storage located in Latvia according to the needs in their own markets.

The commission is expected to make a decision regarding the funding application at the beginning of next year.

Image: Estonian Ministry of Environment