Image credit: Port of Algeciras

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The president of Algeciras Port Authority, Gerardo Landaluce, says the port plans to consolidate its position as a leading hub for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to vessels.

Speaking on Wednesday at the third conference of the CORE LNGas Hive project, which was set up to develop an LNG logistics network to promote the use of gas as a fuel for transport, Landaluce explained that efforts were focused on making Algeciras a 'reference point' for the use of LNG in the maritime sector.

Echoing Landaluce's words, Salvador de la Encina, president of the government organization that coordinates port policy, Puertos del Estado, posited that Spain and Spanish ports had become "a reference in terms of LNG handling and technology", noting that the country already had the basic infrastructure in place with six LNG plants located at ports, plus 40 percent of Europe's and 5.35 percent of the world's LNG storage capacity.

Algeciras, ranked by the EU as Europe's sixth-biggest container port by TEU volume in 2017, was the first location in Spain to witness an LNG bunker delivery back in mid-2012, carried out by Cepsa.

However, it then took more than five years for the second LNG delivery to take place at the Andalucian port when the dry cargo vessel MV Ireland was supplied with LNG on December 10, 2017, in a truck-to-ship operation performed by Molgas Energía, with product sourced from Enagás's regasification plant in Huelva.

Landaluce noted on Wednesday that vessels using LNG as a marine fuel benefit from paying lower port fees, whilst also stressing the need for a competitive regulatory framework on issues such as fees for accessing gas import plants.

The Core LNGas Hive project is coordinated by Enagás, co-financed by the European Commission and comprises more than 40 partners in Spain and Portugal.

Discussing the initiative, Claudio Rodríguez, director of infrastructure at Enagás, remarked: "The Hive project will enable Spain to lead, at European level, the maritime sector's energy transition process. It is a leadership based on the recently completed 50-year history of LNG in our country and ratified, above all, through the development of an innovative, competitive and sustainable logistics network."