LNG

Denmark, one of the largest energy traders in LNG and gas and power in the Nordic market, has brought pipeline natural gas supplies to two of the nation’s isolated areas.

The Danish Energy Agency has issued permits for Energinet and Evida to put the Lolland-Falster pipeline into operation on Danish maritime territory in Storstrømmen and Guldborg Sund.

“The Danish Energy Agency has granted a license to Energinet for the commissioning and operation of the Lolland-Falster gas pipeline on Danish lake territory in Storstrømmen and a licence to Evida for commissioning and operation of the pipeline on Danish territory in Guldborg Sund,” said the Agency.

The Lolland-Falster pipeline in Danish waters is part of a larger gas pipeline project between Everdrup on Zealand and Nakskov on Lolland.

Capacity

The gas pipeline runs as an underwater pipeline at the water crossings at Storstrømmen and Guldborg Sund.

The total length of the pipeline route is around 115 kilometres (72 miles) long and the pipeline can transport up to 290 million cubic metres of natural gas per year.

According to the timetables of both companies commissioning is planned for 30 August 2024.

The Agency said the nation’s consumption of natural gas fell by more than 10 percent in 2023 while the share of bio-natural gas made from waste increased its share of the energy mix.

Denmark is part of the changing Nordic regional energy market where Norway is an LNG exporter and Sweden and Finland are LNG importers, while the Norwegians and Swedes additionally supply power to Denmark.

Additionally the Danes are a conduit for pipeline gas supplies to the Baltic region.

Natural gas consumption in Denmark amounted to around 1.7 billion cubic metres for all of last year, a decrease compared with the previous year.

Natural gas use by the Danes peaked in 2006 at 5.3 Bcm per annum.

The United Kingdom by comparison has much larger natural gas consumption.

UK gas use averaged around 7.4 Bcm per month during the past winter and 72 Bcm for the year, down from almost 79 Bcm in the previous year.

Fortum, the Finnish energy and power company with European Union-wide operations and that was forced to give up the German natural gas and energy supplier Uniper which had relied on Russian pipeline supplies from Gazprom, has returned to profits and gave an overview of current EU energy markets and prices.

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.

The Danish Energy Agency said the nation’s consumption of natural gas fell by 10.8 percent in the first nine months of 2023 while the share of bio-natural gas made from waste increased its share of the energy mix.

Excelerate Energy, the leading US provider of floating LNG import terminals, said its floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), the “Exemplar”, arrived at the port of Inkoo, in Finland to become a Baltic regional supplier of natural gas.

The FSRU was previously loaded with a partial cargo of LNG which would serve as the initial commissioning cargo for the terminal.

The FSRU “Exemplar” has been chartered to Gasgrid Finland Oy for a period of 10 years.

“It will provide flexible, reliable, and secure delivery of regasified LNG to Finland and other Baltic countries,” said Excelerate.

Inkoo port is located on the Southern Coast of Finland and provides an optimal deepwater port at close proximity to the pipelines distributing the gas mainly to industrial end-users in the Baltic region.

The developer had made the move to enable independence from Russian pipeline natural gas.

The FSRU capacity alone is sufficient for the gas needs of both Finland and Estonia. Russian gas supplies through the Imatra entry point into Finland have been stopped since May 2022.

Finland already has two onshore LNG terminals at Pori and Tornio. They have been in operation since 2016 and 2018 respectively.

Infrastructure

“The arrival of the FSRU ‘Exemplar’ at the port of Inkoo represents an important milestone for Finland as it prepares to enhance its energy security and bring essential energy infrastructure to the region,” said Steven Kobos, President and Chief Executive of Excelerate.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment for everyone involved, and we are proud to have partnered with Gasgrid on this opportunity,” added Kobos.

In addition to providing regasification services under the time charter with Gasgrid, Excelerate said that through its recently formed Finnish gas marketing subsidiary, Excelerate Finland Gas Marketing, the US firm has executed an agreement for the sale of commissioning volumes and regasification capacity rights during the commissioning phase.

“Through this agreement, Excelerate Finland will be able to provide natural gas to downstream customers in Finland and other Baltic countries,” explained the Houston-based company.

Excelerate explained that the FSRU “Exemplar” departed drydock in Spain on December 6 where it underwent customer-requested winterization upgrades.

“The vessel subsequently procured its cargo from Excelerate’s global LNG portfolio via a ship-to-ship transfer with the FSRU ‘Excelsior’ near Gibraltar,” said the company.

“The ‘Excelsior’ recently completed its 10-year service in Israel and will go on charter to the Federal Republic of Germany in 2023,” it added.

The FSRU “Exemplar” is 291 metres long and 43 meters wide. It has a storage capacity of 150,900 cubic metres of LNG and can provide more than 5 billion cubic metres per annum of regasification capacity.

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.

Gasum, the Finnish state-run natural gas company and leading Nordic LNG supplier, reported a loss amid higher revenues as it was hit by gas price derivatives issues.

Gasum, the Finnish state-run natural gas and LNG company, has extended its bunkering services in the Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam (ARA) region by locating its bunkering vessel “Kairos” in the area.

“This supports Gasum’s strategy to expand its maritime services in Northwest Europe,” said the Helsinki-based company.

Previously Kairos has been operating flexibly in the North Sea and Baltic Sea and only arrived in the ARA area upon request.

The 4,376 deadweight ton vessel is 117 metre in length and 20 metres wide with capacity of 7,500 cubic metres.

“The new location of 'Kairos' enables Gasum to deliver bunkers of LNG, the cleanest available marine fuel to its clients in Northern Continental Europe, whenever they have the need,” said Gasum.

Gasum’s Jacob Granqvist, Vice President of Maritime, said he was happy to have the “Kairos” deployed in the ARA.

Market growth

“We are now constantly present in the region and can better cater for the needs of our old and new LNG customers in the maritime segment,” explained Granqvist.

“LNG is the cleanest available marine fuel, and it’s rapidly becoming the most commonly used alternative to traditional fuels,” he noted

Gasum also owns a network of Nordic terminals and facilities comprising a small-scale liquefaction plant and an expanding chain of LNG fuel stations for vehicles.

Its terminals include Sweden’s Nynashamn facility with 20,000 cubic metres capacity of storage and purchased in April 2020 by Gasum from Germany’s Linde AG.

The Finnish company additionally has a small-scale liquefaction plant in Risavika, near Stavanger in Norway, while owning and operating other small regasification and import terminals in Ora and Alesund in Norway and Lysekil in Sweden.

It partly owns the Pori LNG import terminal in Finland and has a stake in the Finnish Tornio Magna regasification facility.

The French port of Le Havre has entered the liquefied natural gas era by hosting the bunkering of the latest LNG-powered newbuilt polar explorer vessel, “Le Commandant Charcot”, owned by cruise liner operator La Compagnie du Ponant.

The latest addition to the Ponant fleet will offer the farthest reaches of the Arctic and Antarctic regions to luxury travellers with a ship using the cleanest maritime fuel available.

Le Havre has also become an LNG bunkering site as the second-largest commercial port and the largest container port in France.

The Polar cruise liner “Le Commandant Charcot” is named after the renowned French polar scientist and explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcot and is the first hybrid-electric polar exploration ship powered by LNG.

The ship is the first passenger ship equipped with high-pressure membrane LNG tanks offering up to two months of autonomy on natural gas, greater flexibility in its bunkering and operations and guaranteeing enhanced safety.

“The ship ‘Le Commandant Charcot’ paves the way for new and more environmentally friendly natural gas propulsion methods and helps to meet the carbon-dioxide reduction targets set out in the Paris Agreement.” said Hervé Gastinel, Chief Executive of Ponant.

Switching

Gastinel noted that reducing emissions is crucial and “Le Commandant Charcot” will operate on LNG, which is “currently the most environmentally friendly” maritime fuel available.

Switching to LNG in the shipping sector removes completely sulfur oxides and particle emissions and reduces nitrogen-oxide emissions by up to 85 percent.

LNG also emits at least 20 percent less CO2 when compared to traditional maritime fuels.

The fuel for the Le Havre bunkering operation was provided by Finnish natural gas and LNG distribution company Gasum.

“We have been working on this natural gas powered polar exploration ship project for six years and this is already the second LNG bunkering operation we have carried out with Gasum since the delivery of the ship on 29th July 2021,” said Ponant.

Ponant explained that the ship reached the Geographic North Pole for the first time on 6th September 2021, using LNG throughout its journey.

Maritime traffic contributes up to 3 percent of the world’s total greenhouse-gas emissions.

Gasum is a growing supplier of LNG fuel for shipping and is known to offer premium supplies as well as expertise in bunkering services.

“This delivery marks an important step in our cooperation with Ponant,” said Jacob Granqvist, Vice President of Gasum Maritime.

“At the same time we expand our delivery network to a port as significant as Le Havre. Our services for maritime operators all over Europe are becoming even more relevant,” added Granqvist.

Gasum, the state-owned Finnish company and the largest Nordic LNG supplier and developer, has opened a new natural gas filling station in Trondheim in Norway as it continues to build out the network linking towns, regions and nations with clean fuel outlets for vehicles.