North European LNG Infrastructure Project Results Released

Yesterday, the project on the establishment of an infrastructure for liquefied natural gas in Northern Europe has published its results.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a climate- and environmentally friendly fuel that is to be made competitive through an effective infrastructure and good framework conditions. This has been the aim of a major project in which, inter alia, the Scandinavian countries and several large energy companies participate. The Danish Maritime Authority is the co-ordinating partner of the project.

The main project purpose has been to make recommendations for the best way in which to establish an infrastructure facilitating the use of LNG as a ships’ fuel. However, other important areas have also been identified.

The report’s recommendations concentrate on five main areas:

·          Bunkering of ships with LNG

·          Economic and financial conditions

·          Safety

·          Technical and operational conditions

·          Permits for an infrastructure ashore

New regulations making natural gas competitive

The background for the project is the fact that, as of 2015, only fuel oil with a maximum sulphur content of 0.1 per cent will be permitted in the English Channel, the North Sea and the Baltic. This limitation creates a possibility of making it economically profitable to use LNG that is, at the same time, more environmentally and climate-friendly.

The analyses carried out under the project shows that LNG is a competitive alternative to the use of low sulphur fuels.

However, this requires an effective infrastructure where LNG is distributed through a net of ships and lorries to local terminals or directly to ships using LNG as fuel.

Such an infrastructure is connected with the need for major investments, which is on the other hand characterized by a poor utilization of the capacity in the beginning due to limited demand.

The final conference of the project to be held on 14 June 2012 will focus on how to make LNG a competitive fuel for the shipping industry. Key stakeholders will make presentations, and there will be plenty of interesting discussions.

You can read the entire report on DMA’s website.

[mappress]

LNG World News Staff, May 30, 2012; Image: DMA