• The company has invested over €1 million in the construction of a facility allowing over 600 local houses and businesses to access natural gas.

Colunga (Asturias), 13 November 2017.- Naturgas Energía, the natural gas and LPG distributor  in Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country, today officially opened its new liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in the Asturian municipality of Colunga. .

The infrastructure, which is already up and running, is bringing gas to Colunga and La Isla, thanks to which, over 600 local households and businesses are able to access the natural gas service.

Isaac Pola, the Asturian Regional Minister for Employment, Industry and Tourism; Manuel Monterrey Meana, General Director of Industry and Telecommunications; and Rogelio Pando, the Mayor of Colunga, were at the opening ceremony in Colunga. Naturgas Energía was represented by Alejandro Legarda (Chairman), Massimo Rossini (CE0) and Juan Ramón Arraibi (COO).

Isaac Pola, the Principality of Asturias’s Minister for Employment, Industry and Tourism, explained that the project “came under the regional government’s strategy to extend energy services to the whole population of Asturias, regardless of their location”. The Regional Minister added that the government has been working with Naturgas Engeria under different gasification agreements, thanks to which,  “33 Asturian municipalities already have gas, involving a total investment of €27 million since 2004, aimed at extending the network in different hard-to-access areas, and the Principality has provided €7.7 million of that sum”.

In turn, the Mayor of Colunga, Rogelio Pando, expressed his satisfaction because the company had opted for Colunga, involving “an important investment resulting in job creation and business in the municipal district in the long term”.

Alejandro Legarda expressed the company’s interests that he heads to continue with this type of actions that mean “the development of the natural gas network in Asturias” and thanked the Principality for its backing the project and the cooperation between the different administrations”.

In turn, Massimo Rossini, Naturgas Energía’s CEO, likewise stressed the importance of the cooperation between the private company and the different levels of the public administrations to commission this type of facilities and emphasised that “bringing natural gas to Colunga will benefit everyone” and at all levels: economic, comfort and environmental.

Investment

Naturgas Energía has invested €1,011,737 in this project, which has had the backing of the government of the Principality of Asturias. Specifically, the regional government has cofounded the facility to the tune of €113,800, pursuant to the partnership agreement to bring gas to new population centres signed between the regional government and the company in 2014. On the other hand, in order to disturb the residents as little as possible, Colunga Local Council arranged the work to lay the piping to be carried out at the same time as the complete renovation of the town centre and of the pedestrian path between Colunga and La Isla.

Infrastructure

The project is also part of Naturgas Energía’s initiative to bring the supply of natural gas to small population centres away from the distribution networks. Regarding the new LNG plan and what bringing gas to the municipality means, Juan Ramón Arraibi explained that “the infrastructure consists of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) satellite plant with 60 cubic metres of capacity, a measurement and regulation station, 5.7 kilometres of network and 63 link-ups”.

The plant has a regular refill system of the gas tank using tanker lorries, which guarantees customers continuity of supply and a convenient service.

Furthermore, 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 located on the outskirts of the urban centre and the tanker lorries do not cross the town on their way to refill the tank, which means greater safety and comfort for the local residents,” explained Arraibi.

This new infrastructure is further proof of  Naturgas Energía respect for the environment, as natural gas produces the least CO2 per energy unit of all fossil fuels. 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.

Finally, with the arrival of natural gas, customers will be able to benefit from the access to the liberalised market offered by natural gas and opt for more competitive joint gas and electricity supply offers.