Spain pilots LNG supply by road, rail and sea

Spanish LNG terminal operator, Enagás, said the CORE LNGas hive project carried out the first pilot test of multimodal transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Europe.

The pilot project consisted of transporting LNG in an ISO container from Huelva to Melilla, by road, rail and sea, Enagás said in a statement on Monday.

The LNG was loaded into the ISO container at the Enagás regasification plant located in the Port of Huelva. From there, it was transported by truck to the Huelva Port railway terminal, where it was transferred to a train.

The train traveled to Majarabique station in Seville, and from there it was transported by truck to the Port of Algeciras in Cadiz. There, it was transferred to a vessel which made the journey from Algeciras to Melilla, Enagás said.

This pilot test highlighted the effectiveness of transporting LNG in ISO containers as well as the efficiency of the railway as a logistics solution capable of responding to growing LNG fuel demand.

Partners in the CORE LNGas hive pilot project are Enagás, Renfe Mercancías, Cepsa, the Port Authorities of Bahía de Algeciras, Huelva, Melilla and Cartagena.

Also, the project had the collaboration of Crisergas, which carried out the transport operations of the ISO container under the logistic supervision of Cepsa, and the company Setolazar, owner of the  ISO container.

The aim of the CORE LNGas hive project, which is co-funded by the European Commission, is to develop the necessary logistics to drive the supply of LNG as a fuel in the transport sector in the Iberian Peninsula.

Led by the Spanish Ports Authority and coordinated by Enagás, this project has a total of 42 partners from Spain and Portugal: 8 institutional partners, 13 port authorities and 21 industrial partners.