Finland will provide $31.5m in public funding to help finance a small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the Hamina port, on the south-east coast, as an energy security option, UPI reported. The public funding would cover 30% of the total investment costs and the Hamina LNG terminal is slated for completion in 2018.

The plan was recently approved by the European Commission (EC), which said  it was in line with the EU state aid guidelines, EU broader energy diversity scheme and regional efforts to improve energy security. Currently, there are no LNG terminals in Finland and with no large-scale commercial natural gas production of its own, the country is heavily dependent on Russian gas. The project, which is expected to be one of several networks of small terminals, would thus improve security of gas supply in the Baltic Sea region.

The European body backed similar funding for an LNG terminal slated for Finland’s western coast in 2015 and said the two terminals would come online with the objective to end energy isolation for Baltic states.

In addition, “these small scale LNG terminals will provide a new source of cleaner fuel for the maritime industry and diversify Finland’s gas supply sources,” EU Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager was quoted by Hellenic Shipping News as saying.