Endesa continues with the installation work of its LNG supply plant at the Los Barrios port terminal (Cadiz), as part of its energy transition and decarbonization strategy to reduce emissions into the atmosphere, and has received four storage tanks. With this project, which contemplates an investment of almost 35 million euros in its initial phase, Endesa will be the first company to offer LNG refueling services to the more than 120,000 ships that sail through the Strait of Gibraltar each year, 40,000 that stop at the Port of Algeciras, one of the main bunkering ports in the world.
The four tanks that will offer a storage capacity of around 4,080 cubic meters and a maximum volume of energy managed per year at the facility of 1,100 GWh/year have already been unloaded. These containers have been manufactured in Avilés, by Idesa, and transported on the Amoenitas ship to the Los Barrios port terminal.
The first phase of the project, designed and executed in collaboration with Técnicas Reunidas, also involves the refurbishment of the port terminal and the installation of the network of pipes to connect the tanks, which will enable the creation of up to 125 jobs, and whose commissioning is expected during the first half of 2023.
During the event, the attendees were able to check the degree of progress of the work that will enable the use of LNG as an alternative fuel for marine use to liquid fossil fuels, within the decarbonization processes of maritime transport, which will position the Port of Algeciras as the first to offer these services in the Mediterranean environment, thus enabling a differential offer aligned with the energy transition.
In this sense, Javier Pérez Maroto, Director of Fuels, Logistics and Circular Management at Endesa, highlighted that the company is firmly committed to reducing emissions as part of its energy transition strategy. “That is why we are taking another step forward on our path of decarbonisation to be the first to offer maritime transport a more sustainable fuel alternative, such as LNG, in one of the busiest environments in the Mediterranean,” he commented.
“The project undertaken by Endesa is a very relevant step in the Andalusian maritime-port sector’s commitment to being more sustainable, with the Port of Algeciras as an example of an advanced model in the use of transition fuels such as LNG, for which its clients and reference shipping companies such as CMA-CGM or Balearia are already betting,” said the President of the Port Authority of Algeciras Gerardo Landaluce. “The Port of Algeciras and its Port Community will continue to be at the forefront of fuel supply in Southern Europe and the Strait and promoting the necessary energy transition in the sector.”
In this regard, the Director of Técnicas Reunidas Joaquín de Hita added: “For our company, this is an emblematic project, because it entails supporting one of our main clients in its initiative to equip the Los Barrios port terminal with its first LNG supply plant, relying fundamentally on national technology and suppliers.”
This Endesa LNG supply project is likely to be able to grow in subsequent phases depending on the increase in demand. For this, the Los Barrios port terminal has sufficient space, 188,369 m2 of surface area, of which 47,105.50 m2 are facing the water, and has two additional docks that would allow growth to 10,000 m3 of storage during the current decade.
Source: Endesa
