LNG bunkering study will be performed by Pöyry

Pöyry Management Consulting Oy was chosen by Port of Tallinn   as the successful bidder of the simplified procurement  for feasibility study and cost-benefit analysis of liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering infrastructure construction in the harbours of Port of Tallinn. The total of six companies participated in the procurement.

According to Port of Tallinn business manager Natalja Baidina, the  study  is related to the new environmental requirements regarding marine fuels in the Baltic Sea that are soon to come into force. “The requirements that are considerably more stringent than the current ones are best satisfied by using liquefied natural gas as fuel for vessels, which in turn requires provision of bunkering through an LNG terminal”, notes Baidina.

“The main goal of the study  is to evaluate the market potential of LNG as bunkering fuel in the Baltic region, the most efficient ways to provide for supply of LNG, as well as to address the questions of logistics and feasibility in general”, adds Natalja Baidina.

“The successful bidder of the tender forfeasibility study and cost-benefit analysis is Pöyry that  offered the least expensive solution. The study should be completed already in April”, says Baidina.

Bids for the tender announced by Port of Tallinn in the end of November were submitted by Royal Haskoning DHV, DNV Belgium NV, Ramboll Danmark A/S, Pöyry Management Consulting Oy, AF-Consulting AS and AS PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisors. All bidders and their respective  bids  fully complied with the requirements contained in the documents of the simplified procurement.

The bids were evaluated according to the simplified procurement procedure and criteria (price – 40%; tenderer’s experience in conducting feasibility and/or return on investment surveys – 40%; schedule (as offered by tenderers) – 20%).

The study is co-financed within the framework of the European Union’s TEN-T program “LNG in  the Baltic Sea port”, the aim of which is to develop the unified approach towards the LNG bunkering infrastructure of the Baltic Sea.

Ports of Aarhus, Helsingborg, Helsinki, Malmö-Copenhagen, Turku, Stockholm and Tallinn have joined the project. It is planned to develop the infrastructure of the partner ports in order to offer LNG bunkering services to shipowners.

According to IMO, MARPOL Annex VI and the EU requirements, starting from  2015 the content of sulphur in ship fuel should not exceed 0.10% in the special region of SECA (sulphur emission control area), to which the Baltic Sea and the North Sea belong.