The brand-new ship bunker filling facility of the Swedish gas pipeline infrastructure manager and gas seller has been used for the first time on a market basis, following an earlier test made in October.
Terntank's oil product tanker Tern Sea was provided with both liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied biogas (LBG) at Swedegas' bunkering station located in the Port of Gothenburg's Energy Harbour (Tern Sea was also the vessel with the help of which the trial bunkering was performed).
Both types of liquefied gas were supplied by the Norwegian Barents NaturGass; the LBG load came from FordonsGas' Lidköping facility.
According to Swedegas, its facility is the first one in Sweden where tankers can bunker from a fixed pipeline as they load or discharge. Today, jetties 519 and 521 can be served by the new station; jetty no. 520 will be added to the setup next year.
LNG or LBG are currently provided with the use of tank trucks or gas containers. Swedegas plans to expand the facility with fixed storage capacity once the company secures a sufficient client base. As such, an 8k m3-big set of c-type tanks and one 25k m3-big flat bottom tank will be added in the future.
"Being able to offer this unique opportunity represents a major breakthrough, not only in facilitating the transition to LNG, but also in gradually increasing the proportion of renewable gas," Johan Zettergren, Chief Executive, Swedegas, said.
He furthered, "It is my firm belief that gas suppliers will come to realise the importance of the shipping sector as a gas user. Access to renewable gas will increase, opening up new and exciting opportunities. Every step we take towards more sustainable transport is vital."
To this Tryggve Möller, CEO, Terntank Ship Management, added, "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."
Photo: Swedegas