SSAB chips in for Tornio Manga LNG terminal

A NASDAQ-listed Nordic and U.S. steel company SSAB has joined Manga LNG Oy on a LNG terminal construction project in Tornio in the north of Finland, to be built by Wärtsilä. 

The terminal will serve industry, mines and other gas users in the area. SSAB’s site in Raahe will also make use of LNG.

At the Raahe steel mill, liquefied natural gas will replace the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the walking beam furnace in the strip mill and be used as a support fuel in the boiler of the new power plant. Use of LNG will enable SSAB to replace the use of oil-based fuels and thus reduce particulate, NOx, SOx and carbon dioxide emissions from their present levels.

Manga LNG Oy is a joint venture of Outokumpu Oyj, SSAB, Skangass and EPV Energia Oy.  SSAB has a 25% share in the terminal project. SSAB will contribute with around EUR 7 million (USD 8.6m)  in equity in the Tornio terminal and will invest around EUR 5 million (USD 6.1m) in the Raahe terminal.

Reception, unloading and bunkering facilities for large LNG tankers, an LNG vaporization facility and a 50,000 m³ storage tank will be built at the terminal in Röyttä, Tornio. For gas deliveries, a pipeline will be built on the Röyttä industrial site and a truck loading terminal for LNG trucks The LNG will be transported by road or rail from Tornio to customer terminals and consumption points in northern Finland and Sweden. As regards SSAB, the beneficiary will be the Raahe site, which will receive deliveries of LNG by tanker truck. The terminal in Tornio will be completed in early 2018.

In future, the terminal will also be able to supply LNG to ships.

Earlier this fall, SSAB switched over to using LNG in one of the reheating furnaces in the hot strip mill in Borlänge, Sweden. Switching over to natural gas is part of SSAB’s strategy to make the energy system more sustainable, more cost efficient and to spread the risks by using several different types of fuel.

Image: Wärtsilä