Flogas Britain Ltd, a leading provider of liquefied natural gas of liquefied petroleum gas to off-grid customers in the North of the UK has opened a new operational terminal in Teesside that will improve the supply chain.
Flogas, a unit of energy group DCC Plc, said the new facility would initially provide up to 90,000 tonnes of LPG each year to homes and businesses across the Northern England, Scotland and North Wales.
Commissioned by Flogas Britain, alongside partners North Sea Midstream Partners (NSMP) and Exolum Seal Sands Ltd (Exolum), the facility is set to improve the security of supply nationwide while also reducing the reliance on imports.
Offshore
“This facility delivers a significant, critical supply of LPG to the UK, and we’re delighted to see it now up and running,” said Paul Horton, Chief Operating Officer at Flogas.
“This has been a vital part of our plan to provide proper energy resilience for both our commercial and domestic customers, and in the short time it’s been live, we’ve already seen a huge step change in our supply capability in the North,” Horton added.
Previously LPG was extracted from North Sea gas reserves at the NSMP-owned Teesside Gas Processing Plant (TGPP) and was being exported to global markets.
Now, thanks to the deal between Flogas, NSMP and Exolum, it’s being turned inland instead, helping to improve the UK’s own supply.
LPG is fractionated at TGPP, then transported and stored in five 125-tonne storage bullets, owned by Exolum.
With its extensive delivery network, Flogas then delivers the LPG across Northern England, Scotland and Wales, reaching even the most remote locations.
“Alongside the new Teesside terminal, Flogas has invested heavily in developing the UK’s largest above-ground LPG storage facility in Avonmouth, Bristol, which went live last year,” added Horton.
Former Avonnouth LNG site
“Now Teesside is fully operational, any surplus LPG supply we have, will be transferred, and stored at Avonmouth to help prepare for peak heating season in Winter 2024,” he explained.
The Flogas Avonmouth Storage facility is the largest of its kind in the UK, with the capacity to store 34,564 tonnes of LPG.
Formerly owned by National Grid Plc, operator of the Grain LNG import terminal on the Medeay River southeast of London, the Avonmouth facility was previously only able to store LNG. However, work was carried out to convert it to an LPG facility.
“With the two sites working in parallel, we’ll be able to provide a new level of energy security for the UK’s off-grid community - it’s a real game changer,” Horton stated.
Over the past 12 months, the team has been readying the Teesside facility for the new intake, constructing road loading racks and process infrastructure to receive the LPG.
It also has the capacity to be a gateway for renewable gases in the future with space for additional storage vessels to be installed.
This provides the opportunity to blend renewable fuels, such as bio-propane and renewable Di-Methyl Ether (RDME) with LPG in the future.
