Gate terminal announces the ceremonial start of the construction activities for the new LNG break bulk infrastructure at its site at the Maasvlakte in Rotterdam. The Port of Rotterdam has begun with the excavation of a new harbour basin next to Gate terminal. The new facility is expected to boost the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a cleaner and affordable transportation fuel in the Netherlands and Northwest Europe.

Break bulk (or small-scale) services aim to split up large-scale LNG shipments into smaller parcels. This enables the distribution and use of LNG as a cleaner fuel alternative for maritime vessels, ferries, trucks and industrial applications. Since 2011 Gate terminal enables overseas LNG import into Europe. Gate terminal contributes to diversifying the European gas supply by providing access to LNG from around the world. At Gate terminal, LNG is received, stored, reloaded or regasified for the Northwest European gas grid. These activities have formed the basis for the current development of small-scale services.

About Break bulk LNG

Break bulk (or small-scale) services aim to split up large-scale LNG shipments into smaller quantities. This enables the distribution of LNG as a fuel for maritime vessels, ferries, trucks and industrial applications. The use of LNG as a fuel is expected to grow substantially following the introduction of stringent new emission regulations (SECA) for the marine sector in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea from 2015. By using LNG as a fuel, barges, coasters, ferries, as well as heavy trucks, can reduce their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by up to 20%, their nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by up to 85%, while reducing sulphur and particle emissions to almost zero. For these reasons, the Dutch government and the European Union encourage the development of LNG as a transportation fuel.

About Gate terminal

N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie and Koninklijke Vopak N.V. are the initiators and partners in Gate terminal B.V.. The terminal is operational since September 2011. The imported LNG is unloaded at the terminal, stored and evaporated to natural gas before it is delivered to the transmission network for the European markets. The terminal has an initial throughput capacity of 12 billion cubic meters per year (bcma), which in the future can be extended to 16 bcma. Gate terminal has also introduced back loading services for a wide range of LNG vessels. In January 2014, Gate has started loading LNG tank trucks and containers, with a total capacity of 5,000 trucks, to further support break bulk market developments.

About Gasunie

Gasunie (N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie) is a European gas infrastructure company. Gasunie’s network ranks among the largest high pressure gas pipeline grids in Europe, consisting of over
15,000 kilometers of pipeline in the Netherlands and northern Germany, dozens of installations and approximately 1,300 gas receiving stations. The annual gas throughput totals approximately 125 billion cubic meters. Gasunie offers transport services via its subsidiaries Gasunie Transport Services B.V. (GTS) in the Netherlands and Gasunie Deutschland in Germany. With its cross-border gas infrastructure and its services Gasunie facilitates TTF, which has developed into a leading and strongly growing European gas trading hub. The company also offers other services in the gas infrastructure field, including gas storage and LNG.

About Vopak

Royal Vopak is the world's largest independent tank storage company by capacity, specialized in the storage and handling of oil products, liquid chemicals and gasses. As per 30 October 2014, the company operates 80 terminals in 28 countries with a combined storage capacity of more than 33 million cbm, with another 4.9 million cbm under development, to be added by 2017. Vopak’s mission is to ensure safe, reliable and effective storage and handling of bulk liquid products at key marine locations that are critical to its customers around the world. The majority of its customers are companies operating in the oil, chemicals and gas sector, for which Vopak stores a large variety of products destined for a wide range of industries.

See the site of Gate terminal