In November 2019 ERSE sent to the AdC its “Cost-Benefit Study of the 8km Pipeline between the Liquid Bulk Terminal of the Port of Sines and the CLC Sines-Aveiras Pipeline” (hereinafter, Study) for comments.
The pipeline project under analysis stems from previous recommendations by the AdC and aims to mitigate barriers to entry in the access of third parties to CLC infrastructure. This project would allow operators to import fuel by ship through the Port of Sines ensuring that more operators have access to the storage infrastructure of fuels.
The ERSE Study concluded that the project was unfeasible, based on a cost-benefit analysis. In its comments, the AdC highlighted that the project's lack of viability seemed to result from the inclusion of a new warehousing/shipping facility. This facility accounts for almost 2/3 of total investment costs and more than 90% of operating costs. The AdC added that the combination of warehousing/shipping with the pipeline did not make it possible to assess the technical and financial feasibility of the pipeline alone or in conjunction with other storage alternatives.
The AdC also considered that the study would benefit from additional reasoning regarding the assumptions used for the evolution of demand for petroleum products, the use of new infrastructures, the benefits arising from the greater bargaining power of operators vis-à-vis the national refiner and the different models of allocation and exploitation of the project's infrastructure.
The AdC noted that, in the analysis of alternatives, it would be important to ascertain the degree of effectiveness and compliance with effective access, by third parties, to SPN facilities declared to be of public interest in 2015.