Plans for first Swiss liquefied gas terminal mooted

Up to 150 containers for LNG are planned in Muttenz, outside Basel. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

An industry association is planning to build Switzerland's first terminal for liquified gas in a bid to diversify the transport of gas supplies and reduce the dependence on pipelines.

A consortium of 15 local gas works, active mainly in northwestern Switzerland, said it was going to build a facility near the city of Basel to store containers of liquified natural gas (LNG) and feed it into the grid, according to a report in the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper.

The terminal for 150 containers a year could be operational next winter for shipments via railways, roads or the river Rhine, the director of the Gasverbund Mittelland association, Rolf Samer, is quoted as saying.

The plant will open up a new supply chain as an alternative to the pipelines that lead to Switzerland from the surrounding countries.

Plans are also afoot to build a third major gas-fired power plant nearby. 

Shareholders and customers of the gas industry association have expressed an interest in the plans pending approval by the board of directors, according to Samer. 

The Swiss government has agreed to build up to three gas power plants to prevent a potential energy shortage.

However, environmental organisations have come out against new gas power stations.