Bunker Holding launches LNG project in Denmark

The Bunker Holding Group, one of the world’s leading bunker companies, is joining forces with strong Danish partners in the green-energy market to launch an LNG project in Denmark

With subsidiary Unioil Supply A/S as its commercial arm, Bunker Holding has established a collaborative effort with strong Danish partners in their respective fields in the process relating to LNG. The partners have already made great strides in planning a production facility in Frederikshavn which will produce LNG for the maritime sectors in Denmark and Sweden.

As the situation is right now, in order to have LNG delivered in Denmark, it is necessary to transport the gas from one of the large LNG terminals outside Denmark. The establishment of the production facility in Frederikshavn will make it possible to exploit the well-developed natural gas grid available in Denmark to produce local LNG. This will ensure fast, efficient and safe delivery of gas to customers.

To locate the facility in Frederikshavn was not randomly decided though. The Port of Frederikshavn, which is managed by an innovative port management, has already launched several interesting and innovative projects. Roughly 100,000 ships pass the straits near Skagen every year in northerly or southerly directions, making Frederikshavn the most ideal geographical location for the new LNG collaboration.

Mikkel Seedorff Sørensen, Managing Director of the Port of Frederikshavn, states, “It is very pleasing that we have succeeded in attracting a company like Bunker Holding to Frederikshavn and that the Port of Frederikshavn has been chosen as the location for one of the first LNG investments in Europe. The project relating to LNG production fits perfectly into our strategy where environmental considerations play a big part. We are convinced that this innovative project will help to put
Frederikshavn on the map. For a long time now, being able to offer LNG has been an area within which we have wanted to help generate development.”

The production plant will be delivered by the Danish company Kosan Crisplant A/S, which is a world-leading supplier of equipment for infrastructure and facilities for the production and handling of gas. In recent years, the company has moved into the LNG market with new innovative solutions. With the introduction of a unique, fully automated emission-free plant for bunkering LNG for ships, as well as a scalable liquefaction plant, Kosan Crisplant has positioned itself as a significant supplier of innovative solutions in this new market.

“With 65 years in the gas sector, and after having implemented almost 3,000 gas installations all over the world, we are pleased to be involved in this exciting project in Denmark. Producing LNG or LBG from the natural gas grid is a new area of growth for us, and being allowed to organise a project with the strongest players in their respective fields is a dream situation for an engineering firm like ours. We look forward to making a first-class project which resonates all over the world and thus lays the groundwork for a unique reference project to our international customers and puts North Jutland and Frederikshavn on the world map,” says Bo Larsen, Commercial Director, Kosan Crisplant. The project will increase the traffic in the Port of Frederikshavn and, at the same time, it will create local jobs during both the construction and operating phases.

Unioil Supply A/S – Bunker Holding’s subsidiary in Aalborg, which by virtue of its attachment to the bunkering market has strong relations with both the Danish and international maritime industry – will handle the commercial aspects of the LNG project. Unioil Supply has already successfully supplied LNG in Denmark, and the Bunker Holding Group takes part in several LNG projects at world level.

Thus, this will be a collaborative effort between not only seasoned, serious business partners, but also between financially strong partners with local and global expertise. Both the Bunker Holding Group and Kosan Crisplant are world leaders in their respective fields and, with the Port of Frederikshavn as the strategically ideal location of the facility, the partners guarantee reliability of supply throughout Denmark.

“We expect a rising demand for LNG in the years ahead, and we have been good at finding the perfect business parters. Our extremely well-organised set-up means that we are ready to cover all of Denmark and Sweden,” explains Peter Zachariassen, Head of Physical, Bunker Holding, continuing: “LNG is part of the future, and it is important for us to be at the cutting edge of developments and to be able to offer our customers diversification in our product portfolio. Thus, several shipping companies have already taken great interest in our project which helps to emphasise Denmark’s focus on green energy.

One of the shipping companies that has already invested in LNG-powered ships is Terntank Rederi A/S, domiciled in Skagen. Jens P. Buchhave, Managing Director, states that “Terntank takes a very positive approach to this initiative in the Port of Frederikshavn. For quite some time now, we have been calling for some of the major bunker suppliers to take the initiative to provide LNG, and this new set-up fits perfectly into our strategy where we have already placed orders for four ships that will be fuelled by LNG. We look forward to following the development of this exciting project,” says Jens P. Buchhave.