July 1, 2015 [The Baltic Course] - Estonian state-owned port operator AS Tallinna Sadam (Port of Tallinn) Council approved on Tuesday the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering terminal in the Muuga port, the company announced LETA.
The Council approved of building a small-scale LNG receiving and distribution terminal in the Eastern part of the Muuga port; building rights and cooperation agreements with AS Vopak E.O.S. will be concluded for that. The LNG bunkering terminal will create the opportunity for accepting LNG arriving by sea, storage of it and loading it on board bunkering tankers or cistern trucks.
“The estimated construction cost of the terminal is 20 million euros, which will be invested by the partner of Tallinna Sadam,” said AS Tallinna Sadam Council Chairman Remo Holsmer. “The exact schedule for the construction depends on the cooperation with the local government processing the project, i.e. the Jõelähtme municipality; according to current plans, the terminal is scheduled for completion in early 2017.”
Holsmer said that the all-year-round ice-free port of Muuga is one of the best locations for an LNG bunkering terminal in Estonia. “Building the LNG terminal will considerably improve the position of Estonia in the Baltic Sea, because there are just a few ports in the Baltic Sea that have LNG bunkering possibilities,” described Holsmer. “Due to the toughening of environmental requirements, shipping companies increasingly use LNG as ship fuel.”
In the first phase, an LNG receiving and distribution terminal with up to 4,000 cubic meters of container fleet will be built in the Muuga Harbour eastern part. The whole territory covers an area of about 8,500 square meters.
In subsequent stages, the increase in the container fleet, LNG re-gasification and sending it to natural gas grid are being considered.
