Spain’s Scale Gas, a unit of Spanish LNG terminal operator Enagas, has received funding from the Spanish government to build a bunkering vessel for the supply of LNG and bio-LNG in the Canary Islands.
Scale Gas received 15 million euros ($15.5 million), the total financial support requested, from the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, according to a statement by Enagas.
Enagas said the vessel would have a capacity of 12,500 cbm for bunkering alternative fuels such as LNG and bio-LNG.
In addition, it could be adapted for the supply of ammonia as a marine fuel, which would allow the use of hydrogen as a carrier for the decarbonization of transport, it said.
Scale Gas plans to start construction of the vessel from June 2023 and to put it into operation for use by shippers from June 2025.
This project named Net Zero hive Canarias is part of the Net Zero hive initiative led by Enagas.
Also, the Canarias project contributes to the deployment of the institutional strategy LNGhive2, led by state-owned Puertos del Estado, Enagas said.
The goal of Net Zero hive, which is a continuation of the CORE LNGas hive project and the LNGhive2 strategy, is to promote the use of port infrastructures to foster more sustainable energy sources, Enagas said.
Specifically, it proposes to adapt the regasification plants in Spanish ports and other facilities in the port’s area of influence to favor the production of low-carbon fuels such as hydrogen, bio-LNG, or synthetic methane.
Along this line, the ‘LNGhive2’ strategy has several active projects, including the construction of two LNG bunkering vessels: one will shortly operate in Barcelona and the other in Algeciras from the end of 2023, Enagas said.
