France's Elengy and Delta Rail launch LNG container service

French LNG import terminal operator, Elengy, a unit of Engie's GRTgaz, has joined forces with compatriot Delta Rail to launch a new LNG container loading service from multimodal platforms.

Elengy said in a statement that the new service "will ensure the provision to the customers of containers loaded with the requested LNG quantity at one of the multimodal platforms of Delta Rail's network in France or Germany."

Elengy operates the Fos Tonkin and Fos Cavaou LNG terminals on the Mediterranean coast, and the Montoir-de-Bretagne facility on the Atlantic coast.

Back in March 2021, Elengy completed its first loading of an ISO container for rail delivery at the Fos Cavaou terminal near the southern city of Marseille.

As part of the new service, Elengy said that the containers would be transported via a combined logistics system, stored and loaded at its LNG terminals in Fos-sur-Mer before being handed over to customers at destination.

Elengy said it is pursuing its industrial ambition to offer services adapted to the evolution of energy demand.

Moreover, in a context of a tight LNG market, this logistics solution "is bringing new LNG loading capacities in Germany," according to the firm.

Elengy said this agreement with Delta Rail illustrates its commitment to developing LNG as a fuel, which is an "essential solution" for decarbonizing heavy mobility.

Following the launch of the LNG truck loading service in 2013 and the start in 2021 of the LNG bunkering vessels loading service, the rail service positions Elengy's terminals as "true multi-modal hubs and as infrastructures at the heart of the development of LNG mobility," it said.

According to Elengy, record 329 ships called at its three LNG facilities last year, while the firm injected some 226 TWh into the grid.