First Test Discharge for the Gijón Regasification Plant

The Maltese-flagged LNG carrier “Cool Racer” (IMO 9869265) makes its mark in the contemporary history of the port of El Musel by unloading the first shipment of liquefied natural gas for the testing of Enagás' regasification plant. Recently, the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge published in the BOE the order authorizing the technical conditions of the aforementioned facility, which is expected to begin operations this month.

The Enagás plant in El Musel has a storage capacity of 300,000 cubic meters of liquefied natural gas, in two tanks of 150,000 cubic meters each. The terminal allows the docking of ships ranging from 50,000 to 266,000 cubic meters and can supply 8bcm (8 billion cubic meters) of LNG through the operation of up to 100 ships per year.

After investing around 360 million euros, the El Musel regasification plant was halted in 2013 by court order due to non-compliance with the then-current regulations, which forced a restart of the entire administrative process.

On February 28, Enagás and Reganosa signed an agreement whereby the former acquires the network of 130 kilometers of gas pipelines and the latter 25% of the El Musel plant. Enagás reports that this operation allows for the leveraging of synergies and joint service work to enhance supply security and advance decarbonization goals. The forecast is for two ships to arrive monthly.

The LNG carrier "Cool Racer" unloads the first shipment of LNG for the El Musel regasification terminal

The LNG carrier "Cool Racer" unloads the first shipment of LNG for the El Musel regasification terminal

Photos: provided for puentedemando.com