International Conference Science in Technology SCinTE 2015

Evaluation of LNG Bunkering Concept for Greek Sea Territory

G.A. Livanos1*, S. Dimitrellou1, E. Strantzali1, G. Theotokatos1,2
1

Technological Educational Institute of Athens, Egaleo, Greece, *glivanos@teiath.gr

2

Currently at University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

Keywords: LNG, bunkering methods, small-scale terminal, fuel consumption.

Abstract
This paper presents an LNG bunkering infrastructure concept in the Greek Sea territory for the
distribution of LNG to Greek islands electricity power plants and for ship bunkering. The LNG
consumption is estimated accordingly to the power plant installed capacities in six Greek
islands and the installed power of five passenger vessels operating at the ports of Piraeus and
Patras. The concept of small-scale LNG terminals is proposed that is a feasible and efficient
solution for countries with areas of little or no pipeline infrastructure.
Introduction
The demand for environmental protection has led International Maritime Organization to set
limits on NOX and SOX emissions from ship exhausts, and prohibit deliberate emissions of
ozone depleting substances (IMO, 2008). Special areas designated as Emission Control Areas
(ECA), where emission limits are more stringent, have been already defined. More areas within
the Mediterranean Sea are planned to become future Emission Control Areas. To prepare for
this possible regulatory development, the use of different fuels with less environmental impact
needs to be studied. Using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as a fuel is a very efficient way to
reduce emissions. All SOx emissions are eliminated, the NOx emissions are reduced up to
85%, whereas the CO2 emissions decrease by 25%-30%.
The significant infrastructure in terms of pipeline projects and LNG terminals that have been
developed, are under development or have been proposed in the region of east Mediterranean,
makes LNG a viable solution for Greek ships and also for other LNG needs. In specific, four
gas transport and trading projects (Nabucco, Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy, Trans
Adriatic Pipeline, South East Europe Pipeline) are ongoing (Natural Gas Europe, 2013,
Gurbanov, 2014). Moreover, one existing Greek import terminal with current LNG storage
capacity of 130,000 m3 and two proposed Greek import terminals with LNG storage capacities
of 285,000 m3 can support the further distribution of LNG by the common LNG bunkering
methods.
LNG Distribution/Infrastructure Concept
Greek Islands Power Plants. The majority of Greek islands, especially those in Aegean Sea,
are not connected to the mainland electricity grid. Their insular electricity system comprises
oil-fired power plants that cover their demands. The examined Greek islands are: Rhodos,
Crete, Samos, Kalymnos and Lesvos and Kos. Table 1 summarize the total annual consumption
of the HFO needed to cover the energy demands for the years 2013 and 2014 and the total cost
of the HFO needed (making the assumption that the current price of HFO is 600/mt).

Extend Evaluation of LNG Bunkering Alternatives for Greek Sea Territory

2013
2014
825,868.46
848,544.27
Fuel Consumption [mt]
495,521,075.37
509,126,564.37
Fuel Cost []
Table 1. HFO total consumption and cost

This study investigates the conversion of the existing power plants in Rhodos, Samos,
Kalymnos and Lesvos, and the installation of new power plants in Crete, Lesvos and Kos.
Table 2 shows the results of the calculation of the LNG consumption for each island power
plant (Johnsson, 2015).
Plant
Total Installed Capacity [MWe]
Average load 80% [MWe]
LNG Cons. at 100% load/day [m3]
LNG Cons. at 80% load/day [m3]
Annual LNG Cons. 80% load [m3]

Rhodos
Crete
Samos Kalymnos
145
207
24.6
16.4
116
165.6
19.7
13.1
1,411.36
1,843.04
226.43
150.95
1,129
1,474
181
121
412,118
538,169
66,118
44,079
Table 2: LNG consumption for power plants

Lesvos
153
122.4
1,377.00
1,102
402,084

Kos
83
66.4
740.54
592
216,239

Total
629
503
5,749.34
4,599
1,678,806

According to the energy demand of 2013 and 2014 the LNG needed for the same years was
calculated. If the energy demand is higher than the energy produced from the LNG
consumption then it is used HFO as additional fuel. Making the assumption that the price of
HFO is 600/tn and the price of LNG is 35/MWh, then the total cost for these six islands had
been, also, calculated and it is shown in Table 3. In the last column of Table 3, the fuel cost
savings are given, calculated by the difference of the total costs in Tables 1 and 3.
2013
2014

LNG [tn]
537,300.83
536,934.47

HFO [tn]
LNG cost []
HFO cost []
TOTAL []
96,270.49
250,740,386.63 57,762,295.11
308,502,681.73
119,443.79 250,569,417.33 71,666,273.37
322,235,690.69
Table 3: The total consumption and fuel cost for the six islands

Cost Difference
-187,018,393.64
-186,890,873.67

Port LNG nodes. Different types of vessels are sailing at the Greek territory as Ro-Ro, ferries,
bulk carriers, container and general cargo vessels. However, this study is focused on five LNG
fueled passenger vessels. Five of them operate between the main islands at Aegean Sea (sailing
from Piraeus port) and two of them connect Patras port to Italy. The estimation of LNG
consumption is shown in Table 4. We assume that vessel main engines operate at 75% load.

Installed Power
Power @ load
Running hours /day
Energy
Fuel consumption
LNG volume
LNG consumption
Hours between bunkering
LNG cons. between bunkering
Bunkering frequency
LNG consumption/ year
LNG consumption/ day

MW
kW
h
kWh
MJ
m3
m3/h
h
m3
days
m3/year
m3/day

Olympic
Spirit
4 x 12,6
37,800
8
302,400
2,531,693
119
15
16
237
2
43,316
119

Piraeus Port
Blue Star
Paros
4 x 4,1
12,300
14
172,200
1,441,658
68
5
14
68
1
24,666
68

Knossos
Palace
4 x 16,8
50,400
10
504,000
4,219,488
198
20
20
396
2
72,193
198

Table 4. LNG consumption estimation

Patras Port
Cruise
Super
Europa
Fast XI
4 x 12,6
4 x 12,6
37,800
37,800
22
22
831,600
831,600
6,962,155
6,962,155
326
326
15
15
44
44
653
653
2
2
119,118
119,118
326
326

International Conference Science in Technology SCinTE 2015

Small Scale Terminal Design. The small scale LNG concept shares much of the technology
with traditional large scale LNG. Large scale is about intercontinental transport of millions of
tons LNG from a LNG production unit to an import terminal where the commodity product is
fed into a national pipeline grid system. Small scale LNG on the other hand is more of a
regional business moving hundreds of thousands of tons from the LNG source, using various
modes of transport ranging from ships to semitrailers and ISO containers, directly to end-users.
The most feasible solution for the Greek Sea case is the installation of small scale LNG
terminals in Piraeus Port and Patras port, for the bunkering of the corresponding vessels, and in
each island for the power plant installations.
To determine the storage tank capacity of each small-scale terminal we assume a fill-up interval
of 10 days with a safety inventory of 5 days. The requirement for the heel is 10%. Heel is the
small amount of liquefied natural gas remaining on storage after discharge of the regular LNG
cargo, and is the minimum quantity of LNG necessary to be retained in holding tanks. In each
terminal type C storage tanks to cover the required LNG volume are used, as shown in Table 5.
The tanks shall be filled with LNG up to 85%.
Terminals
Rhodos
Crete
Samos
Kalymnos
Lesvos
Kos
Piraeus Port
Patras Port

Required LNG
storage capacity (m3)
18,630
24,328
2,989
1,993
18,176
9,775
6,353
10,758

LNG tank size (with

25% tank vacuum)
21,918
28,621
3,516
2,345
21,384
11,500
7,474
12,656

No of
tanks
9
12
3
2
9
10
8
8

Single tank
capacity (m3)
2,450
2,400
1,200
1,200
2,400
1,150
0,950
1,600

Table 5. Small scale LNG terminals sizing

Fig. 1 illustrates the LNG distribution chain. The import terminal is the existing LNG terminal
of Revithousa Island. For the proposed study a large LNG tank of 100,000 m3 and an export
bunkering reload facility has to be constructed. A LNG carrier of 100,000 m3 capacity will
transfer LNG to Revithousas LNG tank once every 10 days.

Figure 1. Small-scale LNG concept and LNG feeder vessel route in Aegean Sea

To distribute LNG between Revithousa import terminal and the small-scale terminals, two
LNG feeder vessels will be used. The first one, with LNG tank capacity of 82,244 m3, will sail

Extend Evaluation of LNG Bunkering Alternatives for Greek Sea Territory

from the import terminal and upload LNG at the small-scale terminals of Piraeus port and
islands. The second feeder vessel, with LNG tank capacity of 10,758 m3, will sail from the
import terminal and upload LNG at the small-scale terminal of Patras Port. Fig. 1 shows the
LNG feeder vessel route from the import terminal to the small-scale terminals (transportation
interval of 10 days).
LNG bunkering (DMA, 2012) can then be subdivided into ship-to-ship bunkering (STS), at
quay or at sea, tank truck-to-ship bunkering (TTS) and/or LNG intermediary terminal-to-ship
via pipeline (TPS). The suitability of a bunkering method to a particular vessel depends on a
number of factors such as, port turn-around time, bunkered volume, voyage range, etc.
Conclusions
In this paper an LNG infrastructure concept in Greek territory is presented, focused on the LNG
demand a) for the Greek islands electricity power plants and b) for five LNG fueled passenger
vessels. The small-scale LNG concept is an effective solution for making natural gas available
to energy users not currently connected to pipeline networks. The concept increases the market
for natural gas by distributing LNG from either a LNG plant, LNG import terminal or directly
from a LNG carrier using a combination of both sea and land based transport directly to the
end-user.
Acknowledgements
This work is conducted in the framework of the project LNG COMSHIP (Greek General
Secretariat of Research and Technology Code: 12CHN400), which is funded by the European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and National Resources.
References
DMA, 2012. North European LNG Infrastructure Project - A feasibility study for an LNG filling station
infrastructure and test of recommendations, Copenhagen: The Danish Maritime Authority.
IMO, 2008, Amendments to the Annex of the Protocol of 1997 to Amend the International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as Modified by the Protocol of 1978 Relating thereto(Revised
MARPOL Annex VI), Resolution MEPC.176(58).
Johnsson, T., 2015, LNG Action Plan for Europe & Africa 2015, Wrtsil.
Gurbanov, I., 2014. Implications of the demise of South Stream for southern gas corridor, Strategic Outlook,
December 2014.
Natural Gas Europe, Greek gas sector eyes flexible LNG infrastructure, Date of access: 10/2013.
http://www.naturalgaseurope.com