The new terminal will stand alongside the Grain LNG terminal in Kent which imports gas from the global LNG market before flowing gas into the UK grid. But from Wednesday the new facility will also cater for the commercial, industrial and road fuel markets through a road tanker loading facility which will allow trucks to carry gas directly to customers across the UK.
National Grid’s biggest LNG customer, Flogas, will receive the first fill of 20 tonnes of LNG which it will distribute to major industrial manufacturing sites across the UK.
The supplier said it intends to take 60 to 100 tonnes of LNG, equivalent to 1-1.5GW of energy, per day.
Flogas’ head of LNG Rob McCord said the new facility is “vital” to the company’s strategic growth.
National Grid’s director of LNG Jon Butterworth said demand for road tanker loading is expected to increase in the UK due to “the substantial economic and environmental benefits of LNG as an alternative fuel”.
“Logistically we are ideally placed to develop a road tanker loading hub, as we sit right next to the major transport routes in the South East of England and to or from Continental Europe,” Butterworth said.
Last month Flogas announced plans to set up a specialist LNG team, dedicated to offering LNG solutions to UK businesses and large industrial gas users.
The team’s core focus is helping high-volume oil-burning businesses convert to LNG, which would enable them to reduce their energy costs by up to 40 per cent, and their carbon output by up to 50 per cent, Flogas said.
“The future for LNG is very bright in this country,” McCord added.