LNG

Nordic LNG and biogas company Gasum has started an expansion project at its Riihimäki biogas plant in Finland that makes natural gas from waste and supplies it to the national gas grid.

Gasum, the Finnish state-run natural gas company and leading Nordic LNG supplier, delivered a cargo to the floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) deployed in southern Finland to help fill a gap during the current cold spell caused by a key gas pipeline shutdown.

Gasum, the Finnish state-run natural gas company and leading Nordic LNG supplier, has entered a partnership with Swedish truck manufacturer Scania for more gas-fuelled access in the region and a filling station at the Scania logistics centre.

Gasum is building a new filling station offering liquefied natural gas and compressed gas in Södertälje in Sweden.

The new station is located near the Södertälje Syd road junction in direct connection with Scania’s production plant and will open in the first half of 2024. 

“The partnership between Gasum and Scania enables the station to be built at this logistics hub and so marks a significant development in promoting a more sustainable transport system in the region,” said the Finnish company.

Gasum, which is also Sweden’s largest biogas producer, said it was continuing to expand gas infrastructure in Sweden by opening the new gas filling station in Södertälje. 

Both trucks and ordinary vehicles will be able to refuel with LNG or CNG at the Södertälje-Syd road junction. 

Gasum noted that the partnership with Scania enabled the filling station to be built in this strategic location where access to land would otherwise have been challenging.

”The partnership with Scania is perfect from all perspectives. They are at the forefront of gas-powered truck development and the fact that they provided land for this project demonstrates the strength of a shared focus on sustainable solutions and secure energy supply in this growing area,” explained Sharareh Edström, Head of Business Traffic Sweden at Gasum.

Gasum said that the new filling station in Södertälje provided improved access to better technology compared with the older existing stations in Järna and Älvsjö, which will be decommissioned. 

The company said that there would be LNG dispensers and two CNG dispensers from the outset. 

This is more than the standard design and would allow faster refuelling and “considerably greater capacity” compared to older stations.

Jonas Strömberg, Sustainable Transport Solutions Manager at Scania, said he was very happy to be able to contribute to the expansion of biogas and LNG infrastructure in Sweden.

“The strategic location of the new station between the E20 and E4 means that it will play an important role in the transition to a sustainable transport system,” explained  Strömberg.

“Building the station also comes at a good time for Scania since there is rapidly increasing demand for flexible transport solutions,” he added.

Nordic natural gas company Gasum of Finland, the region’s biggest distributor of LNG, aims to change its strategy in the next five years to concentrate operations on biogas made from waste and the electricity business.

The European liquefied gas fuel filling station network is growing throughout Europe with two of the latest facilities for LNG as well as compressed natural gas being opened in Sweden and Spain.

HAM Group of Spain has just opened its Benavente-Zamora station for LNG and CNG located at Cañada Berciana 9A, next to the A-6 (Northwest highway), one of the six radial highways in Spain, and the N-630, one of the longest Spanish national highways.

“The new service station, designed and built by HAM subsidiary HAM Criogénica has two LNG dispensers (three hoses), to refuel trucks and heavy vehicles and two CNG dispensers (three hoses), to refuel cars, light vehicles, and trucks,” explained the Spanish company.

With this new opening, the Spanish group has a network with more than 115 service stations located on the main transport routes in Spain and the rest of Europe.

“We continue to bet on CNG, LNG and Biomethane as real sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels, helping to reduce polluting emissions and respecting the environment,” stated HAM.

Gasum network

Finnish energy company Gasum also continues to expand its gas filling station network in the Nordic region.

It has just opened a new facility in the northern Swedish town of Luleå selling biogas, a form of LNG made from waste.

“The Luleå station is a result of cooperation between Sandahls Logistik and Gasum,” said the Helsinki-based, state-owned Gasum.
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“Gasum can now offer both CNG and liquefied gas to transport companies operating locally in the northernmost part of Sweden. Since it has full control and ownership over the whole value chain, Gasum can extend the corridor of stations by another 250 kilometres,” explained Gasum.

Gasum now has 23 liquefied gas filling stations across Sweden and a total of more than 50 in the Nordic countries and some of these are operated by Gasum’s partners.

Sandahls Logistik is a family-owned logistics company the filling station in Luleå is Gasum’s second station built in conjunction with Sandahls Logistik. The first opened recently in Vårgårda, in western Sweden.

“As the filling station infrastructure expands into new regions, there will be a growing number of gas-powered vehicles on Swedish roads,” said Gasum.

“Several companies have already signalled that an expansion of the gas filling station network allows for completely new possibilities, such as switching over to lower emissions transports in northern Sweden,” it added.

“This new station is very special to us because it shows Gasum's capability to equip Sweden with gas filling stations from head to foot, from Luleå in the north to Malmö in the south,” stated Gasum

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has issued details of the 2022 oil and natural gas exploration and production licence round for allocations in predefined areas (APA) on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and with the application deadline set for Monday 12th of September 2022.

April 26 (LNGJ) - Gasum, the Finnish state-owned liquefied natural gas provider to the Nordic countries and with stakes in two small-scale LNG import terminals in Finland, has obtained a distribution licence for the Belgian LNG fuel market. “The distribution licence allows Gasum to expand its supply network and guarantees safe and high-quality deliveries of LNG to customers bunkering in Belgium,” said Gasum.

   “The new LNG distribution licence will allow Gasum to deliver LNG to maritime customers in Belgium, expanding its supply network in Northwest European ports and waters,” said the company. “The licence includes the important port of Zeebrugge, which is one of Europe’s leading pure car/truck carrier hubs. The number of LNG-powered car/truck carriers is growing rapidly, subsequently increasing the global demand for maritime LNG,” explained Gasum.

Finland has drawn up plans to charter a liquefied natural gas floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in cooperation with its fellow European Union and Baltic Sea regional neighbour Estonia.

Leading European LNG and pipeline natural gas nation Norway plans to subsidize the electricity bills of Norwegian households to alleviate the impact from soaring power prices in new measures announced by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

The Government said the cost of the proposal, which is subject to approval by Norway’s Parliament, could amount to some 5 billion Norwegian crowns ($560 million) combined for the four months from December 2021 to March 2022.

The government said the four months of subsidies would be administered by the Transmission System Operators (TSOs).

Norway’s power grid is divided into five different pricing zones. The spot price for electricity in the pricing zone that a household is located in will be used as the basis for calculating any support due.

The average wholesale electricity price in Norway recently stood at the equivalent of around €97.6 per megawatt hour. In natural gas terms this is about $32.35 per million British thermal units.

The Norwegian wholesale sale price is in line with the benchmark European Union Dutch Title Transfer Facility price and the UK National Balancing Point gas price.

Extraordinary situation

“An extraordinary situation like this requires extraordinary measures in response,” said PM Støre, who leads a Left-Centre administration.

“I am happy that we are now in a position to announce positive, targeted action that will help ordinary people to weather this electricity bill crisis,” he added.

 “It is a forceful response to what we are aware many people are finding to be a difficult and serious situation,” stated Støre.

Norway is the leading pipeline natural gas supplier to Western Europe after Gazprom and state-controlled oil and gas company Equinor also owns the region's largest baseload liquefaction and LNG export plant at Hammerfest, set to re-open in 2022 after repairs following a fire.

The Norwegian power subsidy plan will provide support to households for up to 5,000 kilowatt hours of monthly electricity use.

The government said it would present the scheme as a proposition to the Storting (parliament) as quickly as possible. The proposal is in addition to previously announced measures including housing assistance and support for students.

Norwegian Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum said the proposal would see the money spent directly on paying the most expensive component of the bills of citizens.

“This will be in addition to reductions in the electrical power tax and increased housing assistance. We have focused on helping as many people as possible - when spending this much money, it is important for everyone to feel the benefit,” explained the Finance Minister.

“We hope that these measures will provide a little more breathing space for many people as we enter the Christmas period, regardless of whether you live in a draughty house, a flat or a farm,” he stated.

Gasum, the Finnish state-run natural gas company and leading Nordic LNG supplier, has named Mika Wiljanen as the new Chief Executive in succession to Johanna Lamminen, who stepped down after seven years in the post.