Enagas has announced that its CEO, Marcelino Oreja, and the President of the Port of Barcelona, Sixte Cambra, have signed an agreement to promote new logistics services for an LNG plant managed by Enagas in the port area. Under the agreement, both parties will seek to jointly convert the port into a Mediterranean LNG distribution hub.
Cambra praised the lower emissions offered by LNG as fuel, saying: “With regard to petroleum-based fuels, LNG is a 80% reduction in the emission of NOx and 100% in the emission of particulates and sulfur oxides.”
Oreja, meanwhile, focused on the commercial benefits of the fuel, saying: “the use of natural gas can help to improve the competitiveness of transport activity, since it is a cheaper fuel than petroleum."
The agreement also covers other areas, including the European project Core LNGas Hive, which is led by Enagas and involves over 40 organisations and companies, with the Port of Barcelona acting as a partner and coordinator of five initiatives. These actions include the following:
- The adaption a berth quay Energy for LNG supply barge and small sized vessels.
- The modification of a barge to provide ships with LNG.
- The design and installation of an LNG-fuelled natural gas engine to generate electricity for cargo ships during their port visits.
- The transformation of two straddle-carriers (terminal equipment) in the two container ships in the Port of Barcelona (TCB and Best) to operate on LNG.
- The design of a new, natural gas fuelled tug vessel.