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Position #2 May 2018
A clean natural fuel at the port
gas needed to succeed with the steel
production conversion. At the moment we
are working with SSAB and other parties
to plan where the terminal will be placed
in order to work as efficiently and as safely
as possible. We are also talking to people
who live in the local area. This is a big
step we are taking, but a step that must
be taken for the sake of the environment,”
explains Douglas Heilborn, MD, the Port of
Oxelösund.
Capacity for natural gas-powered
vessels
As a first step a smaller terminal is planned
to start operating in 2021, and its capacity
will be increased in the years that follow.
The terminal will also be constructed to
be able to handle biogas. The natural gas
terminal won’t only supply SSAB with fuel,
it will also supply vessels which frequently
call the port and need to bunker fuel.
“The shipping industry is switching to
natural gas operations, and we must be
proactive and meet the industry’s needs.
We will have two ships in regular traffic
with us this autumn. SSAB and the Port
of Oxelösund has a large impact on the
region around us, and our goal is that this
change will lead to increased environ-
mental consideration and sustainability,
and even reach other industries,” Douglas
concludes.
The basics of steel manufacturing has
been the same for more than a thousand
years, where coal and coke are used as
fuel for steel production in blast furna-
ces. SSAB in Oxelösund is now going
to replace the coal with natural gas and
electricity. This means that the blast fur-
naces can be replaced by what is known
as an electric arc furnace – a huge step
forward, resulting in carbon dioxide emis-
sions being reduced by up to 90 % in an
industry which is today one of the leading
emitters. The Port of Oxelösund is playing
an important role in this change.
“With a natural gas terminal at the port we
will be able to receive the liquified natural
The Port of Oxelösund and SSAB are closely linked, through ownership and cooperation,
but also through their development plans for the future. They are now planning a facility
for liquified natural gas (LNG) together, that won’t just drastically reduce carbon dioxide
emissions, but will also create new possibilities for the port’s customers.