Flogas and Stolt-Nielsen eye small-scale LNG project in Scotland
Flogas Britain and liquid bulk transport and storage firm Stolt-Nielsen LNG are to study ways to supply liquefied gas on small LNG carriers to Scotland via the Port of Rosyth.
UK LNG importer Flogas and Stolt-Nielsen will explore ways to deliver LNG to areas of Scotland that lie beyond the natural-gas grid, using Rosyth as a gateway port. Stolt-Nielsen wants to deliver the gas using small-scale LNG carriers, storing the cargoes in bulk at Rosyth for onward distribution by road tanker, using Flogas vehicles.
Stolt-Nielsen will deploy small-scale LNG carriers of 7,500m³. Rosyth will have capacity for 10,000m³-15,000m³ of LNG.
Flogas and Stolt-Nielsen have hired an engineering firm to work on preliminary engineering and permitting to build a small-scale terminal at Rosyth. Construction should take 18 months. If all goes to plan, the project will aim for a 2019 start date.
The project aims to reduce LNG prices, cut local carbon emissions and create more than 150 jobs.
To date, Scotland has relied on LNG delivered by road tankers that load at National Grid’s Grain terminal in Kent, in southeast England.
Sourcing gas over such long distances raises the cost of LNG, which has forced Scotland’s off-grid businesses to use oil to power their industrial processes or pay a premium for gas, Flogas says.
Stolt-Nielsen has similar small-scale plans in Italy. It has completed permitting to build and operate a 9,000m³ LNG-storage plant at Santa Giusta in Sardinia from 2017, through Stolt-Nielsen Gas subsidiary Higas.
Stolt-Nielsen is tipped to order small-scale LNG carrier newbuildings by year-end.
