Swedish owner and operator of the high-pressure gas grid, Swedegas conducted the first LNG bunkering operation at its new facility at the Port of Gothenburg.
The company said that the first operator to take on the chilled fuel at the facility was the Gothenburg-based shipping company Terntank.
In addition to liquefied natural gas Terntank bunkered liquefied biogas (LBG) as well.
With LNG as a marine fuel, shipping is about to take a major step forward in the transition process towards alternative fuels, Swedegas noted in its statement.
The facility has been designed from the outset to handle both LNG and LBG as the chemical composition of the two fuels is largely identical.
“LNG is the first step. The ambition to increase the volume of biogas has taken a new turn, as this technology and related infrastructure work equally well for both gases,” said Tryggve Möller , CEO of Terntank Ship Management, which has invested in LNG-powered vessels chartered by NEOT.
The LNG and LBG that was bunkered at the facility was supplied by the Norwegian company Barents NaturGass.
The LBG was produced by FordonsGas at its facility in Lidköping north of Gothenburg.
Swedegas noted that the facility is the first in Sweden that allows tankers to bunker from a fixed pipeline as they load and discharge, reducing the turnaround time considerably.