Repsol and Enagás, Spanish companies, have for the first time in Europe supplied a ship with liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel directly from a regasification plant. The operation lasted five hours at the Enagás regasification plant, in Cartagena.
Specifically, Repsol was the bunker supplier and Enagás the infrastructure manager. The collaboration between Repsol, Enagás and the Port of Cartagena Authority took place within the CORE LNGas hive project, co-funded by the European Commission, which is coordinated by Enagás and spearheaded by the Spanish Ports Authority.
This type of supply is known as pipe-to-ship bunkering, and was carried out using flexible cryogenic transfer hoses, connecting the ship directly to the terminal. The ship, the Damia Desgagnés, received 370 m3 of LNG, the largest bunkering operation to have been performed to date in Spain and by Repsol, given that amounts up to 320 m3 had been supplied in previous operations using tanker trucks.
This type of supply was made possible as a result of the adaptations made to the Enagás plant jetty in the Port of Cartagena, in accordance with industry standards.
As Enagas pointed out, this initiative aims to turn Spain into the leader in this field in Europe, which is also aided by its privileged geographical placement as the gateway to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Except from this, the aim of the project, in which a total of 42 partner entities participate, is to develop a safe and efficient, integrated logistics and supply chain to supply LNG fuel to the transport industry, particularly the marine transport of the Iberian Peninsula.
In particular, in addition to necessary port works, the aim of the project for the Port of Cartagena is the adaptation of one of the Enagás regasification plant jetties to enable it to offer new small-scale and bunkering services. This initiative has an estimated cost of 2.73 million and is being coordinated and executed in conjunction with the Port of Cartagena Authority. It is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
