Residual cold from Spain’s LNG terminal becomes low-carbon grid energy in ‘world first’

French-headquartered ecological transformation company Veolia, Spanish gas grid operator Enagás, and Barcelona City Council have launched a residual cold recovery solution installed at a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Port of Barcelona.

This technology – which Veoila claims is a “world first” – installed at the Enagás LNG terminal is now operational, generating 131 GWh of sustainable, low-carbon, local, and affordable energy per year, which is said to be enough to power a city with over 100,000 inhabitants for a year. According to the French player, more than 32,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be avoided annually thanks to the solution, equivalent to 110 round-trip long-haul flights between Barcelona and New York.

While regasification typically involves shipping LNG in a liquid state at –160°C, and using seawater to heat and transform it into natural gas at ambient temperature, the new technology brings down the residual cold from the liquefaction process to –20ºC. After that, it can be recovered and recycled to supply the South Barcelona and part of the L’Hospitalet areas with low-carbon energy.

This recovered energy is then re-injected into what the developers say is the largest district cooling network in Southern Europe, to be used for industrial and residential purposes in the area. The partners believe this project demonstrates the feasibility and relevance of local supply solutions to meet the global challenges of energy sovereignty and decarbonization.

Additionally, the energy produced from residual cold is expected to boost the competitiveness of local infrastructure while helping Barcelona’s port area achieve urban and sustainable transformation.

Since the solution is anticipated to open “considerable” opportunities for the production of low-carbon local energy from previously untapped fields at regasification terminals around the globe, Veolia and Enagás also signed an agreement to develop business opportunities and use the adapted cold recovery solution in LNG terminals in Spain and internationally.

Arturo Gonzalo, CEO of Enagás, noted: “This is an emblematic sustainable energy project for the city of Barcelona, with generation technology developed by Enagás, which will provide access to sustainable and competitive cold for industries and consumers in the area of influence of the Enagás regasification plant and the Port of Barcelona.”

Furthermore, the French player signed a memorandum of understanding with Mercabarna, Barcelona’s food wholesale market, to supply sustainable cooling for eight fruit, vegetable, and seafood pavilions – cold rooms for storing fresh and frozen food products.

“The replicability of this solution is a world first, opening up huge potential in Europe and internationally. It demonstrates the positive impact of territorial energy solutions on the decarbonization and competitiveness of territories. I am also delighted to announce today our new partnership with Mercabarna, which will benefit directly from the local energy produced by this technology,” said Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia’s Chief Executive Officer.

The cold recovery project is in line with Enagás’ 2022-2030 Strategic Plan, which has decarbonization and security of supply in Spain and Europe as its priorities. As part of its decision to shift focus to hydrogen, the Spanish player sold its 30.2% shareholding in the U.S. company Tallgrass Energy in July to boost hydrogen investment plans.

At the end of that month, the firm received preliminary approval from the government to start developing the Spanish section of H2Med – a transnational project aimed at connecting the hydrogen networks of the Iberian Peninsula to those of France, Germany, and the whole of North-West Europe. Its objective is to supply affordable, renewable hydrogen to Europe by 2030.