Uniper First to Offer BioLNG from Rotterdam’s Gate Terminal
With demand continuing to grow for green solutions using biofuel options, German energy major Uniper reports it has become the first shipper at Rotterdam’s LNG hub to offer liquified biomethane. The company is calling it a critical step to fully integrate biomethane-BioLNG into the supply chain to meet the demand from both the maritime sector as well as for over-road trucks. As a first step for seagoing vessels, Uniper also plans to use the fuel for its own LNG fleet.
Uniper is making the fuel available through the Gate terminal which bills itself as Europe’s LNG hub. Launched more than a decade ago in 2011 as a joint venture between Gasunie and Vopak, it is an import terminal on Maasvlakte in Rotterdam supplying natural gas in the Netherlands and Northwest Europe, as well as a source for loading bunker vessels and trucks. Gate terminal receives LNG and can store and regasify it as well as liquefaction. The liquefier has a capacity of the is about 100,000 tons per year and can be used by the existing shippers including Uniper.
“The decarbonization of the market for marine and truck fuels will require the use of several low to zero-carbon fuels. BioLNG is among the most important ones,” says Carsten Poppinga, Chief Commercial Officer of Uniper. “It will contribute to meeting the emission reduction targets of the International Maritime Organization for seagoing vessels.”
Uniper highlights that the underlying commodity is biogas produced in one of the EU member states, upgraded to biomethane to remove substances such as carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide, and fed into the Dutch natural gas grid. At the Gate terminal, the LNG facility takes over the biomethane and liquefies it using the terminal’s existing infrastructure.
Uniper becomes the first shipper to offer the product and expects that demand will grow.
The launch of the new product comes as Gate is also moving to expand its overall capacity. Currently, it has three storage tanks with about one billion cubic meters currently contracted to Uniper.
In August 2023, Gasunie and Vopak took the final investment decision to expand Gate terminal’s storage and regasification capacity. The expansion consists of a new LNG storage tank of 180,000 cubic meters and an additional regasification capacity of 4 BCM per year. They reported the new capacity was already rented under long-term commercial agreements even though it is not expected to be ready for operation until the second half of 2026.
The expansion is the next step in a long-term plan and once all projects planned at Gate terminal have been completed, the terminal will have a total regas capacity of 20 billion cubic meters per year.