Antwerp and Engie launch alternative energy hub

Antwerp Port Authority and Engie LNG Solutions are to develop an alternative energy hub at Quays 526

and 528, under a 30-year concession to promote LNG and other fuels for marine and road transport.

Engie saw off rival bidders to secure the Antwerp concession, which takes effect from October. It will

develop and manage a bunker and filling station offering LNG for inland navigation and road transport

and a compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station and chargers for electric vehicles. The first phase of

the hub will open for business by year-end 2017.

Antwerp Port Authority said: “With the development of the alternative energy hub the Port of Antwerp

and Engie are taking a major step forward in the energy transition and promoting sustainable energy

consumption in the transport sector.”

Speaking on the sidelines of LNG18 in Perth, Western Australia last week, a senior Engie official said the

company had no plans at this stage to order an LNG bunker-supply ship to support the Antwerp

concession. Engie is a partner with NYK and Mitsubishi in a 5,100m³ LNG bunker-supply ship to be

stationed at the Port of Zeebrugge’s Fluxys LNG terminal from year-end.

The vessel will deliver LNG to ships across the northwest Europe range of ports, spanning the North Sea

and the Baltic. Antwerp falls within that catchment area and Engie will need regional demand to grow

before it considers a second vessel of this type.

NGS INDIA