Grupo Sousa receives delegation from the European Parliament

READING TIME: 2 MINUTES 13-4-2021

Grupo Sousa receives delegation from the European Parliament

Grupo Sousa received, yesterday, in the Autonomous Natural Gas Unit, near the Ribeira dos Socorridos, in Funchal, a delegation from the European Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism, led by MEP Marian-Jean Marinescu, who is visiting the Autonomous Region of Madeira.

During the visit to UAG-Socorridos, the delegation of the Committee of Transport and Tourism of the European Parliament was received by Duarte Rodrigues, Administrator & COO of Grupo Sousa, and João Dionísio de Sousa, Executive Director of GÁSLINK, where they got to know the business areas of our Group, as well as the operation of the Virtual LNG Pipeline of GÁSLINK.


The visit also served to discuss and gather views on the challenges and impact that the “Fit for 55” legislative package, which aims to reduce the European Union’s CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030, will have on maritime transport, a sector that guarantees the regular supply of goods in an Ultra-peripheral Region such as Madeira.

Under “Fit for 55”, the European Union’s proposals include taxing the most polluting fuels, with a view to increasing the use of sustainable alternative fuels in maritime transport and ports.

Speaking to the media, Duarte Rodrigues warned about the consequences that these measures may bring to the Outermost Regions, namely Madeira, as they will increase the price of products.

“There is no doubt that the package [Fit for 55] itself has a beneficial purpose, which is the reduction of emissions, but special care must be taken in the application of this package in the Outermost Regions, so that this goal of reducing emissions does not become an increase in the cost of living for residents in Madeira”, said the Director of the Sousa Group.

In this sense, Duarte Rodrigues defends the end of the carbon tax (ETS) in maritime transport, as proposed by the European Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism for air connections between the Outermost Regions and European Union States.

“There has to be an exception so that we can guarantee that the regular supply of the island of Madeira is not jeopardised. The alternative to move more slowly was to put another ship, which is so that one can do the port of Leixões and the other can do the port of Lisbon, but this has costs and once again who will pay is the consumer,” added the Director of the Grupo Sousa.

At the end of the visit to UAG-Socorridos, the head of the delegation of the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism, Marinescu, acknowledged the difficulty of the Outermost Regions in adopting the guidelines of the European green package.

Therefore, the MEP admitted to journalists the possibility that the measures of exception for gas emissions (ETS), proposed for the aviation sector, could also be applied to maritime transport, an idea advocated by Duarte Rodrigues.

In addition to Marinescu, the delegation of the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism includes Cláudia Monteiro de Aguiar (Portugal), Vera Tax (Netherlands), Josianne Cutajar (Malta), Sara Cerdas (Portugal), José Ramón Bauxá Díaz (Spain) and Marco Compomenosi (Italy).

in dnoticias.pt
https://www.dnoticias.pt/2022/4/11/305718-comitiva-do-parlamento-europeu-visita-unidade-do-grupo-sousa-nos-socorridos/

in dnoticias.pt
https://www.dnoticias.pt/2022/4/12/305858-grupo-sousa-disponivel-para-investir-na-construcao-de-navios-porta-contentores/

in dnoticias.pt
https://www.dnoticias.pt/2022/4/12/305878-nao-e-justo-pagar-mais-quando-nao-temos-alternativas-reconhece-eurodeputado/

funchalnoticias.net
https://funchalnoticias.net/2022/04/11/grupo-sousa-recebe-amanha-delegacao-do-parlamento-europeu/

jm-madeira.pt
https://www.jm-madeira.pt/regiao/ver/167554/Grupo_Sousa_recebe_comitiva_do_Parlamento_Europeu

jm-madeira.pt
https://www.jm-madeira.pt/regiao/ver/167728/Grupo_Sousa_quer_isencao_da_ETS_nos_transportes_maritimos_

in rtp.pt
https://www.rtp.pt/madeira/parlamento/custo-do-transporte-maritimo-para-a-regiao-subiu-12-devido-ao-aumento-do-preco-dos-combustiveis-video_91094

in rtp.pt
https://www.rtp.pt/madeira/economia/preco-do-gas-nao-devera-sofrer-aumento-na-regiao-audio-_91075

Gáslink contributes to the reduction of 318 thousand tons of CO2

 

READING TIME: 2 MINUTES2-3-2022

Gáslink contributes to the reduction of 318 thousand tons of CO2

 

After eight years of permanent activity and with no record of accidents, Gáslink, a Grupo Sousa  company that guarantees the supply of natural gas to the island of Madeira, recently surpassed 12 thousand operations of containers unloaded in the Autonomous Natural Gas Unit of Socorridos, destined entirely to supply the electroproduction system of the Vitória Thermal Power Plant, in Funchal.

The use of natural gas in Madeira’s electricity production system, as an alternative to fuel oil, has already avoided the emission of several tons of pollutant gases, namely 318 thousand tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide), 14,800 tons of NOX (Nitrogen Oxides), 3,680 tons of SOX (Sulphur Oxides) and 171 tons of Particulates.

In addition, since the start of Gáslink’s operation in 2014, it has been possible to lower the dependence on fuel oil in electricity production from 74% to 44%, and in 2021 natural gas represented 23% of the production of the Vitória Thermal Power Plant. To date, 3,150 GWh of natural gas have contributed to these figures.

These results reflect not only Gáslink’s good practices, but also its capacity to organise and manage a logistics chain of this nature, unique on the islands and a pioneer in the country, mainly through the Group’s own resources.

The ship-owner GS Lines, the shipping agent PMAR, the port operator OPM, the transporter Opertrans Logística and the metalworking unit Metal Lobos are all involved in this operation and, in an integrated and complementary manner, have contributed to the success of this project.

in dnoticias.pt
https://www.dnoticias.pt/2022/2/23/298000-gas-natural-reduz-emissao-de-318-mil-toneladas-de-co2/# 

 

Portuguese LNG Virtual Pipeline with Madeira island reaches 270,000 CO2 environmental savings after 10,000 operations

 

READING TIME: 5 MINUTES 4-2-2021

Portuguese LNG Virtual Pipeline with Madeira island reaches 270,000 CO2 environmental savings after 10,000 operations


The Portuguese “LNG Virtual Pipeline” logistics operation to supply natural gas to Madeira island for electricity production, provided by Grupo Sousa | Gáslink, surpassed 10,000 containers unloaded at the LNG Satellite Plant.

This “door-to-door” logistics solution, in placed since 2014, allows for a partial replacement of: fuel oil for electricity production, presently counting with an average energy mix of fuel oil (55%), natural gas (20%), renewables (20%) and urban solid waste (5%).

Since 2014 harmful polluting emissons of carbon dioxide (CO2) reduced over 270,000 Tons. The environment benefits that comes from it, is also notorious in the reduction of 3,000 Tons of sulphur oxides (SOx), 12,000 Tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and around 150 Tons of particulate matter, equivalent to a reduction of more than 95%, compared to fuel oil emissons, still in use by public owned Electricity Company.

The environmental benefits of this pioneering and innovative operation in an island, coupled with the fact that the majority of the logistics activities are performed by Grupo Sousa companies, with a high degree of optimization, has been contributing to its success, constituting an international case study.

“The natural gas used to produce electricity reached 2.6 TWh. The efficiency gains and logistical optimization achieved by the “LNG Virtual Pipeline” allows, today, without any additional investment, the supply up to 25% of the energy matrix, compared to the current 20%, with corresponding increased environmental benefits, once electricity production based on fuel oil is likely to be reduced below 50% along with the increase of renewables” stated Pedro Amaral Frazão, Grupo Sousa Director & CSO.

 

LNG Satellite Plant (UAG-Socorridos) tests Emergency Plan with Civil Protection

READING TIME: 2 MINUTES 23-10-2020

LNG Satellite Plant (UAG-Socorridos) tests Emergency Plan with Civil Protection

Last Wednesday, Gáslink held the 6th Internal Emergency Plan (IEP) Implementation Exercise of LNG Satellite Plant (UAG-Socorridos), aimed to train the application of this Plan and the actions of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) operators and drivers in an incident scenario involving natural gas.

This Exercise also featured the presence of the Sapadores Fire Brigade and the Municipal Civil Protection Service of Funchal, having been tested the Emergency Network communications (SIRESP), reaction times of the intervention teams and their joint action. The goals set for the exercise were fully achieved.

LNG Satellite Plant (UAG-Socorridos)

LNG Satellite Plant (UAG-Socorridos), managed by Gáslink Gás Natural SA, started its activity in 2014 and is intended to receive, store, regasify and treat LNG in order to guarantee a regular and continuous supply of natural gas to the Vitória Thermoelectric Power Plant in Madeira island. LNG Satellite Plant (UAG-Socorridos) is classified as a SEVESO Establishment (Decree-Law no. 150/2015, August 5) and annually carries out trials to test the efficiency of its IEP.

The LNG Satellite Plant (UAG-Socorridos) External Emergency Plan, recently approved by the Funchal’s Municipal Hall, the entity responsible for its development and implementation, is available for public consultation until November 13th.

LNG Satellite Plant (UAG-Socorridos) renews certification

READING TIME: 2 MINUTES 23-6-2020

LNG Satellite Plant (UAG-Socorridos) renews certification

At the beginning of this month, the LNG Satellite Plant (UAG-Socorridos) in Funchal, run by Grupo Sousa | Gáslink, had its Declaration of Compliance regarding the Safety Management System for the Prevention of Major Accidents involving dangerous substances (SMSPAG) renewed following the 6th annual audit to which it was submitted.

Following audits carried out over recent years by CERTITECNA, CONSULSAFETY and SGS, this year ISQ was responsible for evaluating the Safety Management System for the Prevention of Major Accidents at LNG Satellite Plant (UAG-Socorridos), and the auditor (qualified by the Portuguese Environment Agency) applied the demanding protocol arising from Decree-Law No. 150/2015 of 5 August.

Having detected no non-conformities, the auditor also recognised, among other strengths, “the high level of technical competence, in particular with regard to the safety of all employees”.

Gáslink has been operating in LNG Satellite Plant (UAG-Socorridos) since 21 March 2014, ensuring the storage, regasification and transformation of Natural Gas to supply the 3rd spacecraft of the Vitoria Thermoelectric Power Plant, for electricity production. In 2019, Natural Gas represented 19.6% of the electricity production mix in Madeira island, with Gáslink having successfully and safely carried out, to date, 8,960 LNG discharge operations at the inspected facility.