SSAB Raahe’s steel plant testing biogas in maritime transport

In Finland, SSAB Raahe’s steel plant is testing biogas from Gasum as a maritime transport fuel. The test will be carried out in collaboration with ESL Shipping and Gasum. This is the first time that biogas will be used as fuel for ships in Finland.

SSAB, ESL Shipping and Gasum are working together to reduce the emissions arising in shipping SSAB’s raw materials. Last year, SSAB and ESL Shipping introduced a new transport chain that, in comparison with its predecessor, nearly halved the carbon dioxide emissions originating in shipping SSAB’s raw materials between Luleå, Oxelösund and Raahe. The improved transport chain brought into use ESL Shipping’s new ships Viikki and Haaga which are fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) rather than conventional fuels. Now these companies are piloting the use of liquefied biogas (LBG) as a supplementary fuel to further replace fossil fuels. In the test that kicked off last week, M/S Viikki was fueled with LNG and one tanker load of liquefied biogas which was brought to SSAB Raahe from the Gasum Terminal in Pori.