Dutch PitPoint.LNG to open German LNG bunkering station by Q2 2019

Dutch PitPoint.LNG said it plans to open its planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering station in the German port of Cologne by the second quarter of 2019.

To remind, PitPoint.LNG, which is a joint venture formed by Dutch duo PitPoint clean fuels and Primagaz Nederland, announced the LNG bunkering development in June last year.

PitPoint.LNG said in a statement on Thursday it received the official permit for the construction of the Cologne facility what it claims to be Europe’s first shore-to-ship LNG bunkering station.

“With this important milestone now in place, the civil engineering work can start for the LNG bunkering station, which is scheduled to be operational by the second quarter of 2019,” the company said.

The permit, required under the Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz (German Emission Control Act) to guarantee the safety of LNG as a fuel for shipping, was formally granted by the District Government of Cologne earlier last week.

The new LNG bunkering station in Cologne, located at Am Molenkopf 1, will facilitate the bunkering of inland waterways vessels that sail on the Rhine, Europe’s busiest waterway.

The launching customer for the LNG bunkering station will be the Hague-based LNG giant Shell. Shell and PitPoint.LNG have previously signed a long-term agreement.

This LNG bunkering station will bunker the chilled fuel for the inland dual-fuel barges that Shell has chartered from Antwerp-based Plouvier Transport and its Swiss unit Intertrans Tankschiffahrt.

The realization of this LNG bunkering station is part of the CEF project Breakthrough LNG Deployment in Inland Waterway Transport which is co-financed by the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility.