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Gas Natural Fenosa and Balearia have signed Spain's - and the Iberian Peninsula's - first multi-year, fixed-term LNG bunker supply agreement.

The exclusive supply deal is for 10 years and will initially be for deliveries in Barcelona, Valencia and Algeciras, but will extend to all the Iberian Peninsula ports at which the ferry firm operates, as well as the company's new fleet of LNG-powered ships.

As part of the agreement, Fenosa will have a dedicated LNG supply vessel in Barcelona; the two firms are also working on a land-based supply solution for Valencia and Algeciras, Fenosa said.

Joaquin Mendiluce, Fenosa's Director of Wholesale Marketing for the Iberian Peninsula, commented: "At Gas Natural Fenosa we work to offer solutions that allow for the sustainable and profitable development of maritime transport. The agreement we have reached with Balearia corroborates this, as we have designed a different technical solution for each of the ports in which we are going to carry out the gas supply."

Adolfo Utor, president of Balearia, remarked: "In our commitment to LNG, the agreement with Gas Natural Fenosa represents a strategic alliance. We are currently building the first two vessels propelled by this clean energy that will operate in the Mediterranean. It is expected that at the beginning of next year, the first will begin to operate, which makes us pioneers in the use of LNG. We bet on clean energy because we are convinced that we can fight against climate change and at the same time be competitive."

As Bunker Index previously reported, last year Fenosa performed the first Barcelona LNG delivery to a Balearia ferry on January 29.

Last week, Fenosa launched what it described as the world's first universal floating LNG transfer system.