Finland-Estonia gas pipeline closed due to suspected leak

The manager of the Finnish gas network announced on Sunday October 8 the closure of the gas pipeline coming from Estonia due to a suspected leak. Commissioned in 2019, the gas pipeline, called “Balticconnector”, is the only gas import channel to Finland (apart from LNG) since Russian imports were stopped in May 2022.

Gasgrid, a state enterprise, noted “an unusual drop in pressure” in the gas pipeline around 2 a.m. (1 a.m. Paris time) and “suspects a leak”, she explained in a press release. The company said it was investigating the issue together with its Estonian counterpart, Elering.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Moscow asked customers for “unfriendly countries”, to pay for gas in rubles, a way of avoiding Western financial sanctions against its central bank. Russia then stopped supplying natural gas to Finland after Helsinki refused to comply. Natural gas accounts for around 5% of Finland’s energy consumption. It is mainly used in industry and combined heat and power production.