The EU’s TEN-T Programme will co-finance with over EUR 2.5 million (USD 3m) studies to support the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as marine fuel in the eastern Mediterranean. EU believes that the economically attractive LNG could help decrease the sulphur content in marine fuels from 3.5% to 0.5%.
European regulation on transport requires the shipping sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2050. One of the ways to reach this goal is to use cleaner fuel such as LNG. The TEN-T programme puts forward the obligation to provide publicly accessible LNG refuelling facilities in all core European ports by 2030.
This project aims to design an LNG transport, distribution, supply – including bunkering – network and infrastructure for LNG use as marine fuel in the eastern Mediterranean (Greece, Cyprus, Italy), and define the framework for a well-functioning and sustainable market.
The project is contributing to a larger initiative with the ambition to establish an LNG network in the eastern Mediterranean, develop a sustainable market for LNG as marine fuel, revive the shipping industry, as well as increase the fleet competitiveness, efficiency and sustainability.
The project was selected for EU funding with the assistance of external experts under the TEN-T Multi-Annual Call 2013, Priority Projects. Its implementation will be monitored by INEA, the European Commission’s Innovation and Networks Executive Agency.
The project is to be completed by December 2015.