Poland Loads First ISO Container
Poland's LNG terminal at Swinoujscie loaded its first ISO-container on September 20, the terminal's operator Polskie LNG announced the next day.
Although over 3,000 road tankers have already loaded with LNG at the facility, this was the first time it had loaded such a 40-foot-long standardised ISO-container. It was loaded with 16.2 metric tons of LNG.
Polskie LNG CEO Pawel Jakubowski said that such cryogenic tanks can be compared to mobile storage for LNG: "Such a storage facility allows the recipients to use natural gas anywhere and anytime without additional infrastructure required. We hope to see the rapid development of this type of services provided by Polskie LNG in the near future." Polskie LNG is owned by Poland's state-owned gas grid Gaz-System.
ISO-containers are widely used to transport LNG in Florida, the US Gulf coast, the Caribbean and, since March 2014, to ship LNG from Galp's Sines terminal in mainland Portugal by road and ship to the island of Madeira. LNG now accounts for typically 25% of the overall energy mix on that Atlantic island, equivalent to an annual LNG supply of around 32,500 tons.
Poland's Swinoujscie meanwhile is partway through an expansion that will include construction of a third LNG storage tank and will increase the terminal's regasification capacity from 5bn to 7.5bn m3/yr.
The first ISO container to be loaded at Swinoujscie with LNG (Photo credit: Polskie LNG)