Labastida (Álava), 26 July 2018.- nortegas, the natural gas and LPG distributor in the Basque Country Cantabria and Asturias, has started to supply natural gas to Labastida in Álava. The company has invested €812,000 to transform its propane gas facility to offer natural gas to 750 households and 15 businesses in the town.

The arrival of natural gas marks the end of years of waiting by both Labastida’s households and by business and industries for that much needed supply. In that regard, its mayor, Laura Pérez, considered “the arrival of natural gas to the town to be a real landmark”. She likewise welcomed the advantages that this change of fuel would, unquestionably, offer both to the residents and owners of second homes, who could thus be encouraged to visit the town during the winter as well, with the ensuing boost for Labastida’s hospitality industry and commerce.

 Infrastructure

In 2016, nortegas acquired 82,000 liquefied petroleum gas (propane) supply points from Repsol in the Basque Country, Cantabria and Asturias. The company has now transformed them to natural gas in Labastida.

The project is also part of the company’s initiative to bring the supply of natural gas to population centres away from the distribution networks.

Therefore, nortegas has installed in Labastida a liquefied natural gas satellite plant with 60 cubic metres of storage, which has a system to regularly refill the tank. Users are therefore guaranteed continuity of supply and the convenience of the service.

On the other hand, the natural gas is distributed along 10.2 kms of piping that were previously used for propane gas, which has facilitated the transformation process and avoided local residents being inconvenienced by the works. Furthermore, it was implemented gradually, in phases, the guarantee the continuity of supply.

 Security

The facility is double safe. On the one hand, as a fuel, because natural gas is lighter than air, does not accumulate and is easily dispersed in the atmosphere. On the other hand, because the plant is on the outskirts of the urban centre, which ensures its better integration with the setting without affecting the residential area.
Environment

The new nortegas facility is environmentally friendly as natural gas is the fossil fuel that produces the lowest amount of CO2 per energy unit. Furthermore, the facility has a main regasification system based on atmospheric steamers, which significantly reduce the emissions directly or indirectly associated to the LNG plant.

 Benefits for users

In the same way as with the other LPG to natural gas transformations which have happened elsewhere, nortegas has borne all the costs arising from modifying the individual facilities of the users of Labastida. The latter, in turn, can benefit from the access to the liberalised market offered by natural gas and opt for more competitive joint gas and electricity supply packages.