A subsidiary of Enagás and marine fuel supplier Peninsula will build and own a 12,500-m3 LNG supply vessel that will operate in the Strait of Gibraltar and be based in Algeciras Port in Spain
Under the agreement with Scale Gas, the LNG bunker vessel (LNGBV) will be chartered by Peninsula under a seven-year contract, and will use Enagás’ regasification plants, predominantly in Huelva, as LNG loading points. Enagás is a leading natural gas transmission company in Spain, and one of the world’s largest owners of LNG terminals.
To be built by South Korea’s Hyundal Mipo shipyard, the LNGBV will be delivered in June 2023.
This agreement represents an important advancement in Scale Gas’ strategic plan as a developer of small- and medium-scale LNG infrastructure.
The European Union’s transport aid programme, Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), has contributed €11M (US$13.4M) towards the vessel’s development through a consortium of Enagás, Scale Gas and the Algeciras Port Authority. This agreement is part of the LNGhive 2 strategy, led by Puertos del Estado, whose objective is to support the development of LNG as a sustainable marine fuel, in line with the European Directive 94/2014 on alternative fuels to improve the quality of air in seas and ports.
Compared with traditional marine fuels, LNG virtually eliminates SOx emissions, reduces NOx by 80-90% and CO2 emissions by 20-30%. The use of LNG as a marine fuel in Spain will result in the reduction of emissions by 2030 of about 2M tonnes of CO2 – the equivalent of replacing more than 1M combustion vehicles with electric vehicles, according to Peninsula.
“Peninsula and Enagás share a vision to develop the use of LNG as a maritime transitional fuel and having the support of a company like Enagás is an incredibly positive and exciting development,” said Peninsula owner and chief executive John A Bassadone. “As one of the largest physical suppliers of marine fuels globally, this is the first step of our transition to a more sustainable future. This vessel will hopefully be the first of many that will offer flexibility and solutions across our global network to our customers,” he added.
The newbuild is part of a growing global fleet of bunkering vessels underpinning the use of LNG as a marine fuel. By 2023, there will be more than 50 LNG bunker vessels in operation, according to DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insight.
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