Finland’s Balticconnector offshore gas pipeline has resumed commercial operations after a seven-month closure caused by a leak last October, LNGPrime reported on Tuesday, April 23, 204. 

According to the report, Finland's gas system and LNG terminal operator Gasgrid and Estonian gas system operator Elering jointly announced the restart on Monday, April 22.

As PTJ reported earlier, the leak was attributed to a Hong Kong-flagged containership's anchor, according to a statement from the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation.

"Balticconnector's commercial use has begun according to plans today," Gasgrid said in a statement on Monday, with initial estimates suggesting around 10 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of gas will flow from Estonia to Finland daily and approximately 70 GWh flowing in the opposite direction. 

Gasgrid Finland and Elering aimed to transmit about 60 GWh of physical gas from Finland to Estonia on Monday. 

Gas transmission has been operating normally since the restart with the pipeline designed to handle a maximum capacity of about 78 GWh/day from Finland to Estonia.

Previously, Gasgrid and Elering revealed plans to boost the Balticconnector's capacity once repairs are complete. The 77-kilometer bi-directional pipeline connects Paldiski, Estonia, to Inkoo, Finland, where Gasgrid's FSRU-based LNG import terminal is located.

During the seven-month outage, Finland secured gas supplies through the Inkoo terminal and the smaller Hamina LNG terminal, with Finnish state-owned energy firm Gasum also confirming it delivered the fourth large LNG cargo to the Inkoo FSRU since the Balticconnector shutdown. 

Eesti Gas, a subsidiary of Infortar, will also deliver three more LNG cargoes to the terminal during the winter from Equinor's Hammerfest LNG terminal.