It will enable LNG to be trucked to industrial sites remote from the gas grid not only in southern France but also northwest Italy, and to cater to the growing LNG marine bunkering sector in the Mediterranean.

Fosmax LNG decided to build a truck-loading station with two loading bays from the outset. A similar facility has been in operation at Elengy's nearby Fos Tonkin LNG terminal since 2015. So the new station at Fos Cavaou will triple the loading capacity of road tankers at the Fos terminals, said Elengy, adding that construction work will start this summer for commissioning during 1Q 2019.

The new Fos Cavaou loading station will have 40 loading slots/day once opened, compared with 16/day at Fos Tonkin; the latter loaded 1,000 trucks in 2016 and 2,000 last year.

The third LNG terminal operated by Elengy in Montoir-de-Bretagne also provides truck-loading (the banner photo shows this in action, photo courtesy of Elengy/Aurelien Mahot). It increased its loading capacity by 50% by late 2017 to 18 loads per day, thanks to refurbishment. Elengy is owned by France's largest gas grid operator GRTgaz, which is 75%-owned by French utility giant Engie. 

Italian gas grid operator Snam, which owns the Panigaglia LNG terminal in northwest Italy, said last year it was not planning to add small-scale facilities there, such as a truck loading station. The next nearest Italian terminal is an offshore import one at Livorno, so not suitable for such services.

Elengy thus has claimed that, once its new facilities are opened next year, the Fos terminals will become a small-scale LNG hub for both southern France and Italy.