Page 12 - GLNG Week 39 2021

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Repsol starts work on Spanish

LNG bunkering terminal

PIPELINES & SPANISH oil company Repsol has broken Repsol also made headlines in March,
TRANSPORT ground on a new LNG bunkering facility in the announcing that it had bunkered a ship in the
Spanish port of Bilbao, one of the vessel owners Spanish port of Cartagena with carbon-neutral
that intends to use the facility reported on Sep- LNG, marking the first time that this had been
tember 21. done. The European
The new terminal, with a 1,000-cubic metre Spain hosts six operational LNG reception
storage capacity, should come online in the first and storage plants along its coast. The use of the Commission is
half of 2022. It will provide LNG fuel to Brit- super-cooled gas as a bunkering fuel is growing
tany Ferries’ Salamanca and Santona ferries, the quickly, with the number of refuelling operations also backing the
company said. Those two vessels are due to start expanding to 741 last year from 199 in 2019,
operating along the UK-Spain route in 2022 and according to Gasnam. The European Commis- construction of
2023 respectively. sion is also backing the construction of an LNG an LNG bunkering
According to Brittany Ferries, Repsol will bunkering vessel to serve the Spanish port of
invest more than €10mn ($11.7mn) in the Algeciras. vessel to serve
project. The energy firm has agreed to build a LNG bunkering is also growing in the
second LNG bunkering facility further east in wider Mediterranean area, partly thanks to the Spanish port
Salamanca as well. Both projects are co-financed a rise in LNG-fuelled shipping trade between
by the European Commission through its Con- Asia and Europe that passes through the of Algeciras.
necting Europe Facility. Suez Canal. The International Maritime
“This is welcome news and I applaud Rep- Organisation (IMO) is set to steadily tighten
sol and our port partners in Bilbao for driving its rules for shipping emissions over the
this forward,” Brittany Ferries CEO Christophe coming years, which should be a boon for
Mathieu said, commenting on the start of con- LNG as the cleanest fuel currently available
struction. “The move to cleaner, green fuels relies at scale. There are also discussions to make
on an integrated approach that connects vehicles the Mediterranean an emissions control area
with fuel suppliers and other important partners (ECA), which would encourage a further
like ports.” growth in LNG use.™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 39 01•October•2021