Spanish utility Endesa is aiming to invest up to €34.5 million ($41million) in an LNG bunkering facility in the port of Los Barrios, in Algeciras Bay.
The project is part of the company’s energy transition and decarbonization strategy. Endesa said in its statement it has allocated an initial investment of €15.6 million by 2022, to adapt its port terminal in Los Barrios, in Algeciras for bunkering, to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to ships.
After a detailed analysis and incorporating the latest technology on the market, it will spend a total of around €34.5 million to adapt the facilities before 2023.
Endesa added that it has received authorization from the Port of Algeciras Bay Authority to extend the term of the concession for the current facility. The new terminal will reach a storage capacity of around 4,080 cubic meters and an annual volume of energy managed 1,100 GWh.
With this capacity, the Cádiz terminal will become the main LNG bunkering port station in Spain, Endesa said in its statement.
So far, Endesa has used this facility mainly to unload coal and store optical fibre and electrical connection cable. This expansion and modification will open the door to new business lines associated with LNG. In 2019, the company managed a distributed energy volume of 116,611 Gwh, of which 79,784 GWh corresponded to gas sales of 79,784 GWh.
The Los Barrios terminal has additional space for possible future expansion depending on the evolution of demand.
The facility will be able to progressively increase its storage capacity as demand and supply for LNG bunkering grows from the initial 4,080 cubic meters to 10,000 cubic meters during the decade, with two additional docks.
It is also planned to open a gas station to supply LNG by road.
The project has already been approved in the environmental authorization phase and has just received a ten-year extension of the port terminal concession from the Port of Algeciras Bay Authority, Endesa said.