Nauticor and Novatek to Develop Small-Scale LNG in the Baltic
Hamburg-based Nauticor and Russia's Novatek Green Energy have signed a Letter of Intent to jointly develop LNG supply infrastructure in the Baltic Sea region.
The two companies aim to further develop the marine LNG bunkering market by delivering via both bunker vessels and trucks. Special focus will be placed on the development of infrastructure in ports along the German Baltic Sea coast.
Both companies are already active market players in the North European LNG market and see significant potential for further growth by joining forces. Novatek has extensive LNG production capacities in Yamal and Vysotsk which would be suitable to satisfy the growing demand from shipping, logistics and industry for alternative fuels in Central and Western Europe.
Nauticor has experience in setting up bespoke supply chains for LNG as marine fuel by truck and ship in Northwest Europe. The company started bunkering operations with the world’s largest LNG bunker supply vessel Kairos at the beginning of 2019.
Gregoire Hartig, Senior Business Development Manager of Nauticor, says: “The commitment of a strong player like Novatek to support the development of small-scale LNG infrastructure in the Baltic Sea and beyond underlines Nauticor’s efforts to develop the last mile of the LNG supply chain from the terminal to the end-customer. The Rostock LNG terminal is obviously an important addition to that and a natural starting point for such a cooperation.”
The first LNG bunkering operation in the Port of Rostock, Germany, took place in February when Kairos supplied fuel to the newly-built offshore installation vessel Orion.
The industry association SEA-LNG provided an outlook for the future of LNG bunkering in February, noting that DNV GL forecasts show up to 41 percent of marine fuel being LNG by 2050. In early 2019, there were only six bunkering vessels operational around the world. As of February 2020, there are 12 in operation with a further 27 on order or under construction. The SEA-LNG report demonstrates that many ports are investing heavily in LNG infrastructure.