EMEA News
Repsol to Add Santander LNG Bunkering Terminal Next Year
Spanish energy producer Repsol plans to add a terminal for LNG as a bunker fuel at the northern Spanish port of Santander next year.
The terminal will have 1,000 m3 of storage capacity and is expected to come into operation in the first half of 2023, Repsol said in an emailed statement on Friday.
The move follows the installation of a similar facility at the neighbouring port of Bilbao in July.
"The facilities are part of the collaboration agreement that Repsol formalized in 2019 with Brittany Ferries for the supply of LNG as marine fuel for its operations in Spain," Repsol said in the statement.
"Among its fleet, the vessel Salamanca performs regular operations at this terminal.
"Only the gasification of the Salamanca and Santoña vessels operating from Bilbao and Santander will allow avoiding more than 73,000 tons of CO2 per year.
"These LNG terminals are, thus, another example of the Repsol's commitment to the decarbonization of mobility, with a multi-technological approach using all available solutions to reach net zero emissions by 2050."
The LNG bunker industry has grown rapidly in the past five years with natural gas emerging as the dominant alternative fuel, and supply has now been established at most major hubs and is being rolled out steadily to the smaller bunkering ports. But shipowners with gas-powered tonnage are now increasingly asking for bio- and synthetic LNG to be added as supply options as a means of further cutting GHG emissions.
