Vopak, Gasunie sign up Shell for Rotterdam LNG terminal
Dutch gas operator Gasunie and the world's largest independent storage tank operator Vopak said they signed an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell as the first customer for its LNG Break Bulk terminal in Rotterdam, Reuters reports.
"With Shell we have reached a milestone in this new project's development," state-owned Gasunie's chief executive officer, Paul van Gelder, said in a statement on Thursday.
"LNG as a transport fuel is a solution for the transport sector which will be confronted with stringent EU emission requirements as from 2015."
The LNG terminal is expected to be operational at the end of 2014 and will be built in the Rotterdam port area, which is a major hub for oil, coal and biofuels, and produces about 16 percent of the Netherlands' total CO2 emissions.
It will be linked via pipeline to Gas Access to Europe (GATE) terminal and will make LNG, which is a low carbon fuel, available for trucks and ships, reducing CO2 emissions, Vopak and Gasunie said in a joint statement.
"The new terminal will receive LNG by pipeline from Gate terminal and break down the LNG into smaller quantities for further distribution."
Vopak and Gasunie invested 800 million euros ($1 billion)in Gate LNG terminal which was opened last year and can import 12 billion cubic metres of gas per year.