The strategic interests of building a LNG terminal are to ensure that it is also appealing for neighboring countries to use the Inčukalns storage facility.
Feldmans said that terminals located in Klaipeda and Paldiski are not a tactical structure and are quite expensive solutions. For example, Klaipeda terminal costs around €50-60 million per year.
The Ministry of Economics has been tasked with performing updated calculations of the benefits of the installation. “Indicatively, it could be even twice as beneficial as the Paldiski or Klaipeda terminal. Of course, it's also more beneficial than building a terminal in Skulte,” Feldmans said.
“Our advantage would be that the terminal would be, first of all, significantly cheaper in operation than the Klaipeda and Estonian terminal, also because it would theoretically be closer to the Inčukalns gas storage,” Feldmans said.
On Monday, April 11, the Coalition agreed that Latvia should develop its own LNG terminal. The parties also agreed that Latvia would withdraw from Russia's natural gas supplies on January 1, 2023, while storing the LNG reserves at the Inčukalns gas storage terminal.