Less polluting fuel alternatives to traditional ones are gaining ground, also in the maritime sector. The Port of Barcelona doubled in 2023 both the volume of liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplied to ships, and the vessels that passed through its waters and use this gas. Specifically, in 2023 it supplied 143,000 cubic meters of this fuel, doubling the 65,000 of 2021.
The 2022 figures are not taken into account as it was an exceptional year due to price increases. The energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine led to the supply falling to 26,000 cubic meters, detailed the president of the Port, Lluís Salvadó. He explained it aboard a Golondrina, which sailed until it was located next to a large cruise ship while receiving LNG from a small vessel. It is a supply barge that has been operating from the Port since last year and is commercially managed by Shell. It supplies ships with a capacity of 5,000 cubic meters, which take an average of three to four hours to be completely transferred to the vessels. Last year it supplied 127,000 cubic meters, compared to the 16,000 supplied to vessels from trucks.
In 2023, the number of vessels operating with LNG that passed through the port of Barcelona also increased. With 618 calls by these vessels, they represented 7% of the total of more than 8,780 that called at the Catalan capital. Of these, 200 refueled in the port of Barcelona, while 400 did so in others, especially in Marseille and other cities in northern Europe. According to Salvadó, these 618 LNG calls allowed for the avoidance of 400 tons of nitrogen oxides emissions, 10% of the total NOx emissions generated in the port.
The infrastructure operates as an LNG hub in the Mediterranean, both for operating with its own barge and for having a gasification plantThe proportion of ships using LNG increases especially in ferries and cruise ships. In fact, 20% of cruise calls in Barcelona use LNG, a figure that stood at 12.5% in the case of ferries. These are precisely the boats that operate closest to the city, so the reduction of emissions reaching Barcelona residents is more relevant. And the trend is to continue increasing: in the case of cruises, there were 164 calls in 2023; 61 in 2022, 30 in 2021, and 12 in 2020, more than doubling the previous year's figure each year.
Despite ferries and cruise ships being the types of vessels that most use and demand LNG, the Port of Barcelona is committed to promoting supply to other types of ships and services. In this regard, in December it supplied a car carrier, in what was the first time it supplied this fuel to a car transport ship. It was from a Japanese operator who, after this first experience, is incorporating more LNG ships into its fleet. Moving forward in this direction will allow the port to "supply not only cruise ships and ferries, but also other types of vessels," such as container ships. Given this increase in demand, two companies have expressed interest in supplying from a barge in Barcelona, although not as a home port.
The Port of Barcelona began supplying LNG in 2017, through trucks and small vessels. In 2019, it began doing so through barges that were not permanently located in the port, and it was last year when it had the fixed barge available. In this context, Salvadó has argued that the infrastructure operates as an LNG hub in the Mediterranean, both for operating with its own barge and for having the "largest LNG gasification plant in Europe." All in a context now marked by the crisis in the Red Sea, which is causing international repercussions from which Barcelona is not exempt. The diversion of ships circumnavigating Africa generates delays of between 10 and 15 days in the port of the Catalan capital, according to its president.
Production of green fuels
Salvadó has stressed that LNG is a transition fuel that allows adapting the infrastructure and vessels to the biogas that is expected to be available in the future. In this regard, the Port hopes to take "a step this year to have some concrete action that lays the groundwork for the supply of these decarbonized fuels." An example is biomethane, which will allow the use of the same infrastructures, facilities, and engines as LNG, being a carbon-neutral fuel.
The Port of Barcelona is precisely studying the feasibility of building a biomethane production plant from waste within its facilities. In addition, the infrastructure plans in the short term to build a green methanol production plant with priority use as a zero-emission fuel for ships. To this end, the port foresees the reservation of port spaces destined for the production of green fuels and renewable energies.
The Port is studying the feasibility of building a biomethane production plant in its facilitiesThese measures are part of the Port's strategy to reduce its environmental impact, which also includes measures for electrify the docks and the installation of photovoltaic panels. These initiatives are accompanied by a shift of port activity towards the south to move it away from Barcelona, as the transfer of cruise activity to the Adossat Wharf, the furthest from the city. In fact, in October it sailed the last cruise of the Barcelona Nord terminal, in the vicinity of the World Trade Center and which will open to the public.