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.

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.

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.

Gasum of Finland, the Nordic LNG fuel terminal network operator supplying the shipping, trucking and power sectors reported large declines in nine-month after-tax profits and revenues as it felt the full impacts of Covid-19 and the resultant economic slowdown.

Gasum’s nine-month profits after taxes plunged to €1.6 million ($1.8M) from €8.3M in the same period of 2019.

The company also posted a drop in nine-month revenue to €448.9M from €698.2M in the same period of 2019.

Operating profits almost halved to €12.8M from €22.4M in the same period of last year.

”Our financial performance during the reporting period was almost in line with our expectations despite the uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was steady demand for gas solutions,” said Chief Executive Johanna Lamminen.

“The impacts of the pandemic were seen in our business, primarily with regard to the growth targets we set. Lockdowns caused us to push back with bringing our new plants into use and at the same time our customers have also delayed their projects, which in turn has impacted the start-up of Gasum’s deliveries,” she explained.

Gasum is owned by the government of Finland and has five LNG bunkering vessels in operation and several LNG terminals and plants in Nordic region.

“Revenue and operating profit were primarily affected by the price trend of gas in Europe,” said CEO Lamminen.

Gasum owns a network of LNG import terminals, a liquefaction plant and an expanding chain of LNG fuel stations for vehicles in the Nordic region.

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

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

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

The Tornio terminal in Northern Finland is the largest in the Nordic region.

It is located on the Swedish border which allows it to serve Gasum’s customers in Finland, Sweden and Norway.

The company continues to build its business and in third-quarter 2020 highlights it cited some new contracts.

“We secured a contract with Norwegian reinforced steel manufacturer Celsa Armeringsstal in Mo i Rana, to supply LNG from the Tornio terminal and to build a new customer terminal in Mo Industrial Park,” explained Lamminen.

“Switching to LNG will contribute to the company’s target of lowering carbon-dioxide emissions originating in its operations,” she added.

Gasum also noted the completion of several LNG bunkering operations in maritime transport to new customers in the Nordic countries and in Germany.

Gasum said it continued to expand the Nordic gas filling station network to serve heavy-duty transport.

“We opened gas filling stations in Gothenburg, Sweden and Lieto, Finland,” said the company.

“Our expanding gas filling station network is creating interest in gas from growing numbers of actors and Vekka Group, for example, introduced six biogas-powered buses into operations in Hämeenlinna in August,” it added.

After the third-quarter reporting period ended, Gasum said it had signed a cooperation agreement with Pavilion Energy of Singapore to develop a global LNG bunkering supply network for customers in Singapore and Northern Europe, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp.

Under a memorandum of understanding, the Asian and Nordic partners said they had agreed to leverage each other’s LNG bunkering infrastructure and supply capabilities to provide global supply points for customers.

As a licensed LNG importer and bunker supplier for Singapore, Pavilion has taken several firm steps to invest in and support Singapore’s LNG bunker readiness. The company is a subsidiary of the city-state’s wealth fund Temasek.

Gasum is owned by the government of Finland and has five LNG bunkering vessels in operation.

Gasum, the leading liquefied natural gas fuel company in the Nordic countries, has signed a contract with one of the region’s leading steel companies with a plant in Northern Norway, to supply LNG and to develop a customer terminal.

Chart Industries, the US LNG storage, fuel and liquefaction equipment-maker, had its highest orders intake of 2020 in June and for the second quarter there were record sales in LNG vehicle tanks and filling stations as it looked forward to a boost in railcar business.

July 3 (LNGJ) - Finnish state-owned energy company Gasum, which has widespread gas assets in the Nordic region, has opened a new filling station for LNG and biogas distribution at Lieto in southwest Finland. This is the country’s eighth natural gas filling station for trucks.

   Gasum has another 15 LNG and biogas stations in Sweden and one in Norway located in the capital Oslo. “Together with the gas filling station in Turku Harbor, the new station in Lieto strengthens the distribution of LNG and liquefied biogas for the needs of long-haul transport,” said Gasum.

Finnish natural gas company Gasum has entered commercial operations with its new quayside liquefied natural gas bunkering facilities at the Swedish port of Nynashamn.

Finnish state-run natural gas supplier Gasum said it completed the takeovers of the LNG and biogas business of Germany’s Linde AG as well as German firm Nauticor’s marine bunkering unit.