Europe’s largest public natural gas station under construction in the UK

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Europe’s largest public natural gas station under construction in the UK

CNG Fuels has commenced construction of two public access renewable biomethane refueling stations, two of five due to open in 2019 to cater for soaring demand from HGV operators switching from diesel, the company announced. The new bio-CNG stations will serve major truck routes and cities, and will be able to refuel up to 3,000 HGVs a day, a near 500% increase on capacity at the company’s existing stations at Leyland, Lancashire and Crewe, Cheshire, which can refuel more than 600 vehicles daily.

Construction work on a station in Warrington, at Omega South on the M62, has begun. It is expected to be the largest public access natural gas refueling station in Europe, catering to several major haulers based in the area. It will be able to refuel up to 800 HGVs a day and serve 12 vehicles simultaneously.

CNG Fuels has also commenced construction at Erdington, close to the M6 in Birmingham. The station will be able to refuel more than 600 HGVs a day, and will be built on land belonging to Cadent, operators of Britain’s biggest gas distribution network, at its National Distribution Centre in Gravelly Way Industrial Park. Cadent, with whom CNG Fuels have collaborated previously on Leyland CNG station, have committed to convert their entire fleet from diesel to CNG.

These stations have been supported by Ingenious, an investment manager specializing in the infrastructure, real estate and media sectors. They are due to open in the autumn together with a third, previously announced station at the Red Lion Truckstop off the M1 at Northampton, which will be able to refuel more than 350 HGVs a day. The Northampton station is part of the UK’s first large-scale study of how biomethane can help slash road transport emissions, supported by the Office for Low Emissions Vehicles (OLEV) in partnership with Innovate UK.

“Renewable and sustainable biomethane allows companies to achieve deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, cut pollution and save money – no wonder demand is soaring. Our customers are already planning to order hundreds of new biomethane trucks in 2019 and we have interest from companies which run a third of the UK’s HGVs,” said Philip Fjeld, CEO of CNG Fuels. “We’re making it easier for fleet operators to make the switch from diesel by developing a nationwide network of public access biomethane stations on major trucking routes and at key logistics hubs.”

CNG Fuels expects to start construction on two more public access stations in the autumn, at Larkhall in Scotland and Knowsley, near Liverpool, and plans to add a further eight in 2020, making biomethane fuel available throughout the UK, from Scotland to the south-west. It is also developing the portfolio with support from Ingenious.

https://www.ngvjournal.com/s1-news/c4-stations/united-kingdom-cng-fuels-builds-europes-largest-public-natural-gas-station/

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