read more about fluor's project expanding rotterdam's gate
TRANSCRIPT
GATE TErminAl
COMPANY PROFILE
2015
+31 (0) 181 799 000 | www.gate.nl
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Gate swings widerEditorial: Colin Chinery
The opening four years ago of the Gate terminal in Rotterdam was a major step in supplying North West Europe with LNG. Now a further breakthough is in sight with work starting on a new infrastructure that will add break bulk facilities to the expanding portfolio.
Whether through c l imate
issues or the push for energy
d ivers i f icat ion, natura l gas is
seen as the foss i l fue l o f the
fu ture . And LNG’s increas ing
ro le in Europe’s energy mix is
underscored wi th the recent
s tar t on a new mul t i user
LNG break bu lk in f rast ructure
ad jo in ing the €800m Gate
termina l on the Maasv lakte in
Rot terdam.
Opened in 2011, Gate –
‘Gas Access to Europe’ ,
the Nether land’s f i rs t LNG
termina l , impor ts , s tores, re-
gas i f ies and de l i vers l iquef ied
natura l gas in to nor thwest
Europe’s gr id .
The new fac i l i t ies , expected
to be operat iona l by mid-
2016, are based on a mul t i -
user serv ice mode l . Open to
a l l in terested par t ies they wi l l
have a max imum capac i ty o f
280 ber th ing s lo ts a year.
Break-bu lk in f rast ructure
and serv ices wi l l increase LNG
bunker ing fue l capac i ty in
Nor thern Europe – spec ia l i sed
LNG bunker ing vesse ls are
be ing deve loped to enab le
sh ip- to-sh ip t ransfers - and
ease the sp l i t up o f la rge-
sca le LNG sh ipments in to
manageable por t ions for smal l
o f f - take loads. A new je t ty
w i l l make LNG more wide ly
ava i lab le as a t ranspor t fue l
fo r vesse ls in nor thwest
Europe.
I t ’s a deve lopment that w i l l
acce lerate the d is t r ibut ion
and use o f LNG as a c leaner
fue l a l te rnat ive for mar i t ime
vesse ls , fe r r ies , t rucks
and indust r ia l app l icat ions
throughout Nor th West
Europe.
MOTORWAYS OF THE SEAThe pro ject is f inanced wi th
€38m f rom the European
Investment Bank, w i th the
remainder suppl ied by a
synd icate o f four banks under
an agreement s igned in la te
October las t year. Bes ides
that there is fund ing f rom the
EU’s ‘Motorways o f the Sea’
concept , wh ich is co- f inanced
by the EU Trans European
Transpor t Networks (TEN-T) .
She l l , the launch ing
customer for the expans ion,
has commit ted to buy capac i ty
f rom Gate termina l , a move
that e f fect ive ly underwrote
investment in the new pro ject .
“We are p leased to have
reached th is agreement , ” sa id
Maar ten Wetse laar, She l l ’s
execut ive v ice pres ident .
“LNG is a v iab le opt ion for
fue l l ing c leaner and more
susta inab le t ranspor t . We
be l ieve LNG wi l l fo rm a b igger
par t o f the t ranspor t fue l mix
in the fu ture , and th is pro ject
demonst rates our conf idence
in LNG as a fue l opt ion.”
W i th an in i t ia l th roughput
capac i ty o f 12 b i l l ion cub ic
meters per year - and wi th
the opt ion to increase to 16
bcm – Gate was bu i l t by the
s tate-owned gas in f rast ructure
company Gasun ie and
Nether lands-based g loba l
independent tank s torage
prov ider, Vopak, and seen by
the Dutch government as par t
o f i ts s t ra tegy to ho ld on to
the Nether land’s pos i t ion as a
key European gas hub.
Rot terdam is Europe’s
b iggest por t w i th an annua l
turnover o f €600m, used by
32,000 ocean-go ing vesse ls
and 87,000 in land vesse ls a
year and employ ing more than
90,000 people . W i th an easy
ent ry route to and f rom the
Nor th Sea, Rot terdam was an
obv ious locat ion for a super-
s ized LNG por t and termina l .
Four years on, th is la test
deve lopment by Gasun ie
and Vopak is “an innovat ive
LNG break bu lk concept , ”
says Gate termina l Manag ing
D i rector D ick Meurs.
“Upgrad ing the LNG hub
capabi l i t ies o f Gate termina l
w i l l enab le our customers to
supply LNG as c leaner fue l
for t ranspor t , sh ipp ing and
indust r ia l app l icat ions.”
And as A l la rd Caste le in ,
CEO of Por t o f Rot terdam
Author i ty says, i t f i ts in to a
genera l s t ra tegy a imed at
s t rengthen ing Rot terdam’s
GATE TErminAl
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© Gate terminal | LBBR Project | Maasvlakte LNG
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pos i t ion as the most impor tant
European LNG hub.
ROTTERDAM’S ACE CARD“Bes ides the p ipe l ine
connect ions, our log is t ica l
l inks for the European smal l
sca le market – whether by
r i ver, coasta l sh ipp ing, t rucks
and in fu ture perhaps by
t ra in are ava i lab le and very
compet i t i ve , ” says Mr Meurs.
“A l together i t g ives the Por t
o f Rot terdam a very s t rong
st ra teg ic pos i t ion.
“Rot terdam is one o f the
main la rger bunker markets
in Europe - that ’s the s tar t ing
po int . And we don’t have to
deve lop the in f rast ructure
because i t ’s a l ready in p lace.
So i t ’s a very s t rong po int to
have th is new termina l here
and p lay a lead ing ro le in
the d is t r ibut ion o f LNG for
the smal l sca le market in to
Europe; a ded icated fac i l i t y for
smal l sca le sh ips f rom say 500
to 20,000 cub ic metres.
“ In the end, i f you want to
d is t r ibute LNG then you must
have re l iab i l i t y bu i l t in to the
supply system for the benef i t
o f customers, and th is is
why we are set t ing up th is
ded icated fac i l i t y. ”
The use o f LNG as a fue l i s
expected to grow substant ia l l y
fo l lowing the in t roduct ion
ear l ie r th is year o f s t r ingent
new emiss ion regu la t ions
(SECA) for the mar ine sector
in the Nor th Sea and the Ba l t ic
Sea.
By us ing LNG as a fue l ,
barges, coasters , fe r r ies , as
we l l as heavy duty t rucks, can
reduce the i r carbon d iox ide
(CO2) emiss ions by up to 20%
and n i t rogen ox ide (NOx)
emiss ions by up to 85%, whi le
reduc ing su lphur and par t ic le
emiss ions to a lmost zero.
Reasons persuas ive enough
for the Dutch government
and the European Un ion to
encourage the deve lopment o f
l iquef ied natura l gas.
But i t has not been a
smooth journey. S ix months
before Gate came on st ream,
a tsunami t r iggered by an
ear thquake off the coast o f
Japan, took the l i ves o f tens
o f thousands, and caus ing
a catast roph ic fa i lu re at the
Fukush ima 2 nuc lear power
p lant .
Three o f i ts s ix reactors
mel ted down in the b iggest
nuc lear d isaster s ince
Chernoby l in 1986, leav ing the
wor ld ’s th i rd la rgest economy
re l iant on LNG to f i l l i ts energy
gap.
S ince then p lans to phase
out nuc lear power in the next
few decades have made the
ro le and importance of LNG
increas ing ly impor tant in
Japan’s energy s t ra tegy.
FUKUSHIMA – AND AFTER”Fukush ima changed the
g loba l energy market a lo t , ”
says Mr Meurs, who jo ined
Gate in 2012 shor t ly a f ter the
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GATE TErminAl
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pro ject was de l i vered, a home
return a f ter ten years work ing
in Lat in Amer ica wi th P&O
Nedl loyd, Maersk and Vopak.
“W i th Japan buy ing in to
LNG, energy pr ices went up
s ign i f icant ly, and for Europe in
genera l th is brought a change
in the market dynamics.”
For Gate and other European
termina ls i t has meant a h igh
leve l o f unut i l i sed s torage.
But now the dynamics are
chang ing aga in , w i th LNG
pr ices on the wor ld ’s la rgest
market , the USA, co l laps ing
fo l lowing the deve lopment o f
ind igenous sha le gas.
“A l though we a lways
had LNG in the tanks, re-
gas i f icat ion became less
at t ract ive , and so we dec ided
to encourage customers to
deve lop more opt iona l i t ies
in the termina l . Th is is what
we have been do ing s ince
2011, and we are s t i l l in that
process.”
Re-pos i t ion ing began wi th
adaptat ion to je t t ies and
a sh i f t to a hub termina l
concept . “For th is we had to
add some serv ices, s tar t ing
wi th fac i l i t ies enab l ing the
ber th ing o f smal le r sh ips
at our two main je t t ies and
increas ing our f lex ib i l i t y there.
We can now have sh ips o f
around 6,000 cub ic metres
and up to 15,000 cub ic metres
for LNG d is t r ibut ion by sea to
Nor th West Europe.
“Th is was implemented
in 2013, and in 2014 we
opened a t ruck load ing bay,
operat iona l now for just over
a year. Ear ly th is year we
dec ided to make a fur ther
investment in t rans-sh ipp ing
serv ices to enab le LNG
t ransfers f rom sh ip- to-sh ip
wi thout go ing through the
termina l and our tanks, and
th is w i l l become ava i lab le in
the second ha l f o f th is year. ”
W i th LNG powered sh ipp ing
and road t ranspor t pro jects
get t ing f inanc ia l back ing in
the ‘TEN-T Programme’ ,
the la test Gate pro ject is
a lso seen as an important
s tep in ach iev ing the goa ls
o f the ‘Green Dea l Rh ine
and Wadden’ , a par tnersh ip
between the Dutch
government , bus iness and
knowledge inst i tu tes
a imed at promot ing green
growth.
KWS Infra: The connecting factor
KWS Infra bvDistrict ZwijndrechtOhmstraat 2-4, 3335 LT ZwijndrechtT +31 (0)78 625 08 00 F +31 (0)78 625 08 [email protected], www.kws.nl
KWS Infra is one of the 120 operating companies of Volker Wessels. A full service contractor for all imaginable discipli-nes. We can help you with a integrated advise, design, construct and maintenance of your conceptual design. At Gate Terminal we integrated design and construct of Ground work, Civil work, Road work, Mechanical piping, Construction work and Maritime activities.
PAGE 6
“The market
is sub ject to env i ronmenta l
pressure and emiss ion
rest r ic t ions and LNG is a
very v iab le a l te rnat ive both
in terms of compet i t i veness
and ava i lab i l i t y and of course
env i ronmenta l impact . So i t
has a l l the e lements to be a
very good a l te rnat ive ,
espec ia l l y for the sh ipp ing
sector. ”
THE BIG CHANGEThe b ig change says Mr
Meurs, w i l l come i f the g loba l
sh ipp ing sector changes
to LNG. In ternat iona l co-
ord inat ion is increas ing, and
last month came the news that
Rot terdam and S ingapore are
to
co-
operate
on LNG
bunker ing as par t
o f an in i t ia l dea l cover ing
in format ion exchange on
mar ine serv ices.
S ingapore, the wor ld ’s
la rgest bunker ing por t , has
s tepped up s imi la r co-
operat ion ar rangements,
inc lud ing a 2013 dea l w i th
Be lg ium’s Antwerp Por t
Author i ty and the Por t o f
Zeebrugge to s tandard ise LNG
bunker ing s tandards.
“You need LNG ava i lab le
for bunker ing in many por ts ,
and the Por t o f Rot terdam has
an important ro le in genera l ,
l i a is ing wi th other main por ts
in the wor ld and ass is t ing in
terms of shar ing exper ience
and pract ices to enab le them
to o ffe r s imi la r serv ices
in the medium term
and he lp the g loba l
sh ipp ing sector
make the requ i red
t rans i t ions.”
Europe
imported just
33 mi l l ion
tonnes o f LNG
in 2014, fa r
be low i ts impor t
capac i ty o f 100
mi l l ion tonnes
per annum as
t rader ’s d iver ted
cargoes to h igher-
pay ing As ian
markets .
But a recent s lump
in As ian demand
has ra ised hopes that
Europe may at t ract more
cargoes in to i ts under-used
import te rmina ls . “Af ter four
years o f f la t supp ly we are
enter ing a per iod o f supp ly
growth,” says Andrew Walker,
BG Group V ice Pres ident o f
G loba l LNG
“2014 marked the s tar t -
up of a new wave of supp ly
f rom Aust ra l ia , and th is w i l l
be jo ined by the f i rs t vo lumes
f rom the US Gul f o f Mex ico
around the end of 2015.”
POST OPERATIONALForward s ix months to
mid-2016, and Gate’s new
mult i user LNG break bulk
in f rastructure should be
operat ional . What then? “As
a hub we have now more or
less completed our whole
port fo l io of serv ices, so we
wi l l f i rst have to focus on
growth, and in the f i rst years
managing operat ions in a
h ighly profess ional way,” says
Mr Meur
M a n a g i n g Di r e
c t or
| D
i ck
Me
ur s
GATE SWinGS WiDEr
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Fluor Congratulates Gate terminal
Congratulations to Gate terminal B.V. and its shareholders N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie and Koninklijke Vopak N.V. for being at the forefront of providing environmentally friendly and safe LNG as fuel for north-western Europe.
Fluor is proud to provide engineering, procurement and construction management services for the LNG break bulk terminal that exemplifies this capability. We look forward to working on this and future projects that support Gate terminal and its shareholders leading energy infrastructure and transfer.
Please contact us whatever your needs along the gas and LNG chain.
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