Wärtsilä Bags Major Design and Construction Contract

Wärtsilä to supply a major LNG/bioLNG production plant for CO2-neutral transport fuels

The technology group Wärtsilä has been awarded a major contract to supply and construct a plant for production of CO2-neutral liquid transport fuels. The plant will liquefy gas from the natural gas grid to produce carbon-neutral LNG. It will have a capacity of approximately 100,000 tons per year and located in Cologne, Germany. The order with Wärtsilä was placed in September 2020.

Wärtsilä’s vast experience and state-of-the-art technologies developed for the process design, fabrication, and delivery of gas liquefaction plants and mature gas treatment solutions prior to liquefaction, were key factors to secure the contract.

“It is an honour to have been awarded this order for a landmark project. We take this as a clear endorsement of Wärtsilä’s capabilities in this field. The use of LNG as an emissions-reducing fuel in the marine and transportation industries is already well established, and to introduce bioLNG which can be mixed with LNG is the next obvious step in enabling a CO2-neutral transportation fuel. We look forward to continuing on our mission to enable sustainable societies with smart technology,” said Antti Kuokkanen, VP Gas Solutions.

The feedstock for bioLNG is based on biological waste material e.g. liquid manure and food waste. The feedstock is fed to an anaerobic digestion reactor that produces biogas, which is then upgraded to biomethane and injected into the natural gas grid. Green gas certificates are issued along with the injected biomethane, which then permits operators at other locations, such as liquefaction plants producing bioLNG, to buy the certificates and utilise the biomethane.

The Wärtsilä scope for this project includes the engineering, the civil works, installation, and commissioning of the plant. The plant will include a gas treatment system based on Wärtsilä’s Puregas CA technology, a liquefaction unit utilising Wärtsilä’s Semi-Dual Brayton technology, storage tanks, truck filling stations, and all necessary safety flare and auxiliary equipment. The plant is expected to be fully operational by autumn 2022.

Gas Solutions is a market leader with innovative systems and lifecycle solutions for the gas value chain. Our main focus areas are handling of gas in seaborne transport (storage, fuel, transfer and BOG management), gas to power, liquefaction and biogas solutions. We help our customers on the journey towards a sustainable future through focus on lifecycle, innovation and digitalization.