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Technology company The Linde Group has been commissioned by Norway-based Skangass AS to build a mid-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Lysekil, located on the west coast of Sweden, approximately 100 kilometres north of Gothenburg.

The corresponding engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract is worth around EUR 44 million. The works include the integration of the cryogenic tank structures to be erected by a third party. The new LNG terminal is planned to start operations in spring 2014 and will supply natural gas to the nearby Preem refinery as well as LNG for industrial and transportation applications.

"With this project we confirm our leading position in the growing small-to-mid-scale LNG market," said Professor Dr Aldo Belloni, Member of the Executive Board of Linde AG. "Also taking into account Sweden's first LNG terminal we completed last year in Nynäshamn, we see ourselves on the right course to strongly benefit from the trend towards LNG as a low-emission fuel and petroleum substitute."

The new terminal will have a storage capacity of 30,000 cubic metres (cbm) of LNG, compared to 20,000 cbm at Nynäshamn, and will include a truck filling station.

Linde Engineering has performed the basic engineering and will support with the procurement of rotating equipment, commissioning and start-up. LNG for both terminals – Nynäshamn and Lysekil – comes from the mid-scale LNG plant at Risavika near Stavanger, Norway. This plant - also built for Skangass by Linde – started operations in 2010.

Nearby Gothenburg is one of Sweden's key industrial areas and northern Europe's largest port of export. Located in the 'Emission Control Area' (ECA), the port will be subject to stricter sulphur emission limits when they become applicable in January 2015.

"LNG offers a reliable and economical solution to a wide range of applications and will help to comply with the upcoming regulations," Linde Group said in a statement.

Only last month, the newly founded joint venture company Bomin Linde LNG (BLLNG) announced plans to start a small-scale LNG terminal in Hamburg – another port that will be subject to stricter emission limits from 2015.

BLLNG is a joint venture of Marquard & Bahls subsidiary Bomin, a leading provider of marine fuels, and Linde. The declared strategy of Bomin Linde LNG is to cover the complete LNG value chain – from purchasing and transport through storage to distribution and refuelling of ships at strategically important ports.