{"id":6081,"date":"2026-01-30T08:48:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T08:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/portstrategy.nfdtesting.uk\/greenport\/2026\/01\/30\/barcelona-prepares-for-methanol-bunkering\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T14:20:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T13:20:54","slug":"barcelona-prepares-for-methanol-bunkering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/news\/alternative-fuels-greenport\/barcelona-prepares-for-methanol-bunkering\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona prepares for methanol bunkering"},"content":{"rendered":"

The move forms part of the port\u2019s broader strategy to accelerate the uptake of low- and zero-emission marine fuels<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued on 27 January the port authority said it is working to give renewed impetus to the use of LNG while preparing infrastructure and market conditions for next-generation fuels such as methanol.<\/p>\n

Alongside this, Barcelona is also planning its first barge-to-ship LNG bunkering operations at anchorage for container ships and other vessels during 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to increase the volume of LNG supply to ships, it is necessary to increase the number of fuel suppliers and barges operating in the port,\u201d the authority said. \u201cIn this sense, several companies have shown interest in obtaining authorisation and positioning barges in Barcelona or in the western Mediterranean, which will facilitate the increase in the volume supplied.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement follows another strong year for LNG bunkering at the port. In 2025, Barcelona supplied 231,787 cubic metres of LNG for bunkering, representing an increase of close to 1% compared to the previous record set in 2024. A total of 545 LNG bunkering operations were carried out, with 447 conducted by truck and 98 by barge.<\/p>\n

Barcelona continues to lead Spanish ports in LNG supply and ranks among the first in Europe for this type of bunkering activity. Growth has been driven in part by the increasing number of LNG-powered vessels calling at the port, particularly in the cruise segment. Last year, nearly 30% of cruise ship calls were made by LNG-fuelled vessels, accounting for more than 40% of cruise passengers.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: How Barcelona is reinventing its green cruise offering<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Several factors have supported this trend, including the entry into service of the LNG bunkering barge Haugesund Knutsen<\/em> in 2023. The vessel has operated at near-maximum capacity for several months of 2025, particularly during peak cruise periods. In parallel, ferry operator Bale\u00e0ria has slightly increased its LNG bunkering activity.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Biofuel barge boosts Barcelona<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The port also confirmed that bio-LNG bunkering operations began in 2025, a fuel expected to play a growing role in Barcelona\u2019s energy transition in the coming years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Port of Barcelona has announced plans to launch a commercial service tender for methanol bunkering, with its first pilot operation expected to take place later this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,75,34],"tags":[40,2359,248,296,183,47,442,203],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-6081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alternative-fuels-greenport","category-cruise-greenport","category-europe-greenport","tag-alternative-fuels","tag-bio-fuels","tag-bio-lng","tag-cruise","tag-lng","tag-methanol","tag-methanol-bunkering","tag-port-of-barcelona"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6081"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6083,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6081\/revisions\/6083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6081"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=6081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}