Halinga biomethane output could reach shipping via Elenger – Infortar

Estonia's new Halinga biomethane plant could supply fuel for bunkering through Infortar-owned gas supplier Elenger, an Infortar spokesperson told ENGINE.

IMAGE: LNG dual-fuel vessel MyStar. Tallink

Estonian holding company Infortar’s agribusiness arm, Halinga, has completed construction of a biomethane plant in Estonia's Halinga region. The facility will have an annual production capacity of 50 gigawatt-hours, equivalent to around 3,300 mt of biomethane, according to Ain Hanschmidt, member of management board at Infortar. 

The entire output of the plant will be managed by Baltic gas supplier Elenger.

Elenger will “purchase the entire volume of gas produced at the new facility, transport it, inject it into the distribution network, and sell it to end consumers,” the Infortar spokesperson said.

The company indicated that part of the plant's output could be supplied to the maritime sector.

"Elenger takes a flexible approach to managing its biomethane portfolio and chooses the most appropriate sales channels according to market demand. As a result, a portion of the new plant's production may also be directed to the maritime transport industry,“ the spokesperson said.

Elenger is already active in the marine fuel market and currently supplies liquefied biomethane (LBM) to shipping firm Tallink.

As of January, the company was supplying 74% of the fuel demand for Tallink's two dual-fuel ferries and planned to increase that share to 100% "in the near future", according to Margus Kaasik, chairman of the management board of Elenger Group.

Elenger offers physical bunker deliveries across the Finland-Baltic region using its own truck fleet. It also operates the dual-fuel LNG bunker vessel Optimus for ship-to-ship bunkering operations in the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea.

The vessel is capable of bunkering tankers, cargo vessels, passenger ferries and cruise ships. according to Elenger's website.

By Konica Bhatt

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