German energy company Uniper and food industry service provider Meyer Logistik have partnered to launch the first publically accessible LNG fuelling station in Berlin.
Eckhardt Rümmler, Chief Operating Officer of Uniper sees the creation of LNG fuelling stations as “a major step” in the establishment of LNG as fuel for heavy duty transport and adds that “We want to create a demand-driven LNG fuelling station network through further partnerships in Germany and selected neighboring countries over the coming years. In that way, we will be making a major contribution to the improvement of environmental compatibility and noise reduction in road traffic."
Expanding EU Blue Corridor network
The new facility is located in Grünheide on the east Berlin Ring (A10) and will provide LNG refuelling capabilities for road vehicles as part of the European Union’s "Blue Corridor" project.
The Blue Corridor initiative features four key LNG distribution routes across central Europe, designed to support heavy transport and cargo vehicles fuelled by LNG. The routes are currently via the WE corridor, SoNoR Corridor, Med-Blue Corridor and ATL-BLUE corridor.
The station will be operated by Uniper subsidiary Liqvis.
Savings of 50 tonnes CO2 over five years
Based on preliminary calculations, the new station is estimated to save approximately 50,000 kilograms of CO2 emissions per truck over five years, based on trucks with a reach of around 1,500 kilometers.
"I have spoken repeatedly with our drivers that praise the reduced noise and lower fuel consumption of their trucks, as well as the simple fuelling process. This makes us confident about the use of LNG in regular operations,” Matthias Strehl, managing director of Meyer Logistik, said.
Meyer Logistik will initially use the station to refuel its fleet of twenty LNG-powered food delivery trucks, operating throughout the greater Berlin area. The trucks will be 400 HP Stralis 440S40 T/P LNG vehciles, supplied by manufacturer Iveco.
“Our goal is to apply the driving technology of the future now and to profit from the experience over the long term. We are conducting practical tests of driving concepts related to this and working together with our partners to find a viable alternative to diesel trucks.
The German Federal Ministry of Transportation has further supported the development of alternative propulsion technologies for heavy-duty commercial traffic through the investment of €365,000 to purchase twenty LNG trucks.
"We as Ministry of Transportation aim at more transportation with fewer emissions... Especially at highway transport, but also for inland water and ocean transport, the already now available LNG offers various fields of application," a ministry spokesperson commented.
