Spanish energy company Endesa is to invest €34.5 million go convert its dry bulk terminal in Los Barrios, in Algeciras, Spain, into a 4,080 m3 LNG bunkering terminal.
Endesa will launch the project with an investment of €15.6 million by 2022, to include a detailed analysis of the technologies on the market, before investing the rest of the total sum to adapt the facilities before 2023. The annual volume of energy managed at the terminal, once complete, will be 1,100 GWh. The project has already been given the go-ahead by the Port of Algeciras Bay Authority to extend its concession by ten years, and has already received environmental authorisation. The facility will be the largest LNG bunkering terminal in Spain.
The project forms part of Endesa’s energy transition and decarbonisation strategy, which includes a commitment to reduce emissions.
Los Barrios is well-situated for an LNG bunkering terminal. Around 120,000 ships cross the Strait of Gibraltar annually, and 30,000 of these anchor or make a stopover in Algeciras Bay. The Port of Algeciras ranks fourth in Europe in volume of activity and is a major bunkering centre already. The new IMO 2020 regulations capping the sulphur content in shipping fuels at 0.5% has made LNG, which does not contain sulphur, an increasingly attractive alternative fuel, and LNG bunkering activity around the world is growing. LNG also has relatively lower carbon emissions.
At present, Endesa’s Los Barrios terminal is used mostly for coal unloading and to store optical fibre and electrical connection cable. Its 250 m unloading quay has a draught of 23 m and can accommodate ships up to 270,000 tonnes DW, while its loading quay can accommodate shops up to 25,000 tonnes DW. A third berth can handle ships up to 60,000 tonnes DW. This allows the terminal to handle ships of almost any type and draught.
The company says that there is space for up to two additional docks depending on demand, and will be able to increase storage capacity to 10,000 m3 during the next decade. It also plans to open a station to supply LNG by road.
‘The strategic location of our terminal offers opportunities for growth and diversification into new lines of business, such as LNG bunkering, which are a good fit and will enable us to make progress with our decarbonisation strategy by focusing on activities that lead to a reduction in emissions,’ says Endesa’s general director of energy management Juan María Moreno.
