The Danish port of Hirtshals is to open the country’s first LNG production facility in partnership with Fjord Line, in a move that will further boost the spread of gas-fuelled shipping in Scandinavia.
The parties have signed a letter of intent and allotted funds for the planning stage, with HMS Gashandel (a subsidiary of Denmark’s biggest natural gas company HMS Naturgas) acting as a key project partner.
The move follows Fjord Lines’ opening of Denmark’s first LNG refuelling facility in Hirtshals, last month. The new project will enable the partners to create LNG sourced from the country’s extensive natural gas pipe system, as opposed to simply storing it.
Anker Laden-Andersen, board chairman, Port of Hirtshals said: “The facility will have a big impact on shipping throughout Scandinavia because it offers a real opportunity to adopt environmentally friendly practices at sea. This is one of the world’s busiest shipping areas and this facility will allow us to meet the strong demand for liquefied natural gas that we see coming.”
Fjord Line already operates two LNG-powered cruise ferries between Denmark and Norway. Now the aim is for their fuel to be produced in Denmark for the first time, within two years.
Morten Larsen, managing and technical director of Fjord Line Denmark, added: “The production facility will be the finishing touch in the ‘green’ strategy Fjord Line launched five years ago. Producing our own LNG means the potential in that strategy can be fully realised. It means we can optimize the operation of our two new LNG-powered cruise ferries and refuel them with LNG in both Norway and Denmark.”
The move will also have an impact of the price of LNG as a marine fuel in Denmark. Importing LNG typically adds around 25% to the price, according to Henrik Iversen, vice president of HMS Naturgas.
“In Denmark we have a well-developed natural gas distribution network, and can tap gas directly from those pipelines to cool it down into LNG,” explained Iversen. “So it seems a bit absurd to import LNG when we have everything needed to produce it ourselves from natural gas piped in from the North Sea.”
The Danish port of Hirtshals is to open the country’s first LNG production facility in partnership with Fjord Line, in a move that will further boost the spread of gas-fuelled shipping in Scandinavia.
The parties have signed a letter of intent and allotted funds for the planning stage, with HMS Gashandel (a subsidiary of Denmark’s biggest natural gas company HMS Naturgas) acting as a key project partner.
The move follows Fjord Lines’ opening of Denmark’s first LNG refuelling facility in Hirtshals, last month. The new project will enable the partners to create LNG sourced from the country’s extensive natural gas pipe system, as opposed to simply storing it.
Anker Laden-Andersen, board chairman, Port of Hirtshals said: “The facility will have a big impact on shipping throughout Scandinavia because it offers a real opportunity to adopt environmentally friendly practices at sea. This is one of the world’s busiest shipping areas and this facility will allow us to meet the strong demand for liquefied natural gas that we see coming.”
Fjord Line already operates two LNG-powered cruise ferries between Denmark and Norway. Now the aim is for their fuel to be produced in Denmark for the first time, within two years.
Morten Larsen, managing and technical director of Fjord Line Denmark, added: “The production facility will be the finishing touch in the ‘green’ strategy Fjord Line launched five years ago. Producing our own LNG means the potential in that strategy can be fully realised. It means we can optimize the operation of our two new LNG-powered cruise ferries and refuel them with LNG in both Norway and Denmark.”
The move will also have an impact of the price of LNG as a marine fuel in Denmark. Importing LNG typically adds around 25% to the price, according to Henrik Iversen, vice president of HMS Naturgas.
“In Denmark we have a well-developed natural gas distribution network, and can tap gas directly from those pipelines to cool it down into LNG,” explained Iversen. “So it seems a bit absurd to import LNG when we have everything needed to produce it ourselves from natural gas piped in from the North Sea.”