The French company Veolia, Enagás and Barcelona City Council join forces to produce energy based on cold. The trio of entities presented this Monday a solution at the Enagás Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in the port of the Catalan capital to obtain energy from the residual cold generated in the regasification process of this fuel, which reaches temperatures of up to -160 degrees.
The CEO of Veolia, Estelle Brachlianoff, her counterpart at Enagás, Arturo Gonzalo, and the first deputy mayor, Laia Bonet, inaugurated the first global network in the world that can use cold as a source of sustainable energy “both for industrial use, as for tertiary and residential use,” they highlighted.
The solution is now operational and will generate 131 GWh of energy per year, in addition to saving the emission of 32,000 tons of CO2 per year, according to the promoters’ calculations.
The mechanism of the project is as follows: the LNG arrives by ship at the port of Barcelona at -160 degrees and sea water is used to transform it into natural gas at room temperature. Now, the residual cold that is generated is recovered and, at a temperature of -20 degrees, is distributed throughout the southern area of Barcelona and L’Hospitalet. Thus, it is injected into the refrigeration network in which the Fira de Barcelona, offices of the Generalitat of Catalonia and several hotels and shopping centers are located.
“This is an emblematic project for the city, which will allow access to sustainable and competitive cold for the industry and consumers in the area of influence of the Enagás regasification plant and the port of Barcelona,” highlighted the first executive of the Spanish firm.
In addition, Veolia signed an agreement of intentions with Mercabarna to supply cold supplies to the seven pavilions of the fruit and vegetable market and the fish storage warehouse.
The plan of the French firm, owner of Agbar, and Enagás is to extend this proposal in other locations, both in Spain and internationally. Therefore, they signed an agreement to jointly seek business opportunities. With 150 regasification terminals in the world, it is a growth path for both brands that is still unexplored.
“The replicability of this solution, which is a world first, opens up enormous potential in Europe and internationally”celebrated Brachlianoff.
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