NIB finances enhancements of the region’s largest underground gas storage

NIB and the Joint Stock Company Conexus Baltic Grid have signed a EUR 30 million loan agreement for the ongoing natural gas infrastructure upgrades in Latvia.

The 17-year-maturity loan will finance investments in the Inčukalns underground gas storage (UGS) facility and the renovation of the Inčukalns UGS-Izborsk transmission pipeline.

Inčukalns UGS is the largest gas storage facility in the Baltic Sea region and has a strategic role in creating an effectively functioning regional gas market. Its current capacity can reach up to 2.3 billion cubic metres, equivalent to one third of the total gas consumption in Finland and the Baltic states.

Enhancement of the facility includes the upgrading of surface infrastructure, renewal of gas wells, modernisation of gas pumping equipment and installation of an additional compressor. The projects will increase extraction capacity and enhance security of supply, thus eliminating the possibility of supply shortfall.

The upgrades will adapt Inčukalns UGS to the higher gas pressure levels in the Baltic transmission networks, securing the transit of natural gas within the region and accommodating the needs of a common gas market currently formed by Latvia, Estonia and Finland.

The renovation of the Inčukalns UGS – Izborsk natural gas transmission pipeline entails replacing the isolation material and renewing the damaged sections, substantially prolonging its lifetime.

JSC “Conexus Baltic Grid” is a unified natural gas transmission and storage system operator in Latvia. The company manages the Inčukalns underground gas storage, which is an important strategic object for the Nordic-Baltic region and one of the most modern natural gas storage facilities in Europe. Its 1188 km natural gas transmission network connects the Latvian natural gas market with Lithuania, Estonia and Russia.

NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with the leading rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

For further information, please contact
Ms Kersti Talving, Senior Banker, Public Sector & Utilities, at +358 10 618 0245, kersti.talving@nib.int
Mr Vytautas Brazaitis, Communications Unit, at +358 10 618 0235, vytautas.brazaitis@nib.int