LNG

The European liquefied gas fuel filling station network is growing throughout Europe with two of the latest facilities for LNG as well as compressed natural gas being opened in Sweden and Spain.

HAM Group of Spain has just opened its Benavente-Zamora station for LNG and CNG located at Cañada Berciana 9A, next to the A-6 (Northwest highway), one of the six radial highways in Spain, and the N-630, one of the longest Spanish national highways.

“The new service station, designed and built by HAM subsidiary HAM Criogénica has two LNG dispensers (three hoses), to refuel trucks and heavy vehicles and two CNG dispensers (three hoses), to refuel cars, light vehicles, and trucks,” explained the Spanish company.

With this new opening, the Spanish group has a network with more than 115 service stations located on the main transport routes in Spain and the rest of Europe.

“We continue to bet on CNG, LNG and Biomethane as real sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels, helping to reduce polluting emissions and respecting the environment,” stated HAM.

Gasum network

Finnish energy company Gasum also continues to expand its gas filling station network in the Nordic region.

It has just opened a new facility in the northern Swedish town of Luleå selling biogas, a form of LNG made from waste.

“The Luleå station is a result of cooperation between Sandahls Logistik and Gasum,” said the Helsinki-based, state-owned Gasum.
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“Gasum can now offer both CNG and liquefied gas to transport companies operating locally in the northernmost part of Sweden. Since it has full control and ownership over the whole value chain, Gasum can extend the corridor of stations by another 250 kilometres,” explained Gasum.

Gasum now has 23 liquefied gas filling stations across Sweden and a total of more than 50 in the Nordic countries and some of these are operated by Gasum’s partners.

Sandahls Logistik is a family-owned logistics company the filling station in Luleå is Gasum’s second station built in conjunction with Sandahls Logistik. The first opened recently in Vårgårda, in western Sweden.

“As the filling station infrastructure expands into new regions, there will be a growing number of gas-powered vehicles on Swedish roads,” said Gasum.

“Several companies have already signalled that an expansion of the gas filling station network allows for completely new possibilities, such as switching over to lower emissions transports in northern Sweden,” it added.

“This new station is very special to us because it shows Gasum's capability to equip Sweden with gas filling stations from head to foot, from Luleå in the north to Malmö in the south,” stated Gasum

Nov 17 (LNGJ) - HAM Group of Spain, a European leader in LNG and compressed natural gas filling stations for trucks and cars, has acquired a 40 percent stake in Peruvian company Limagas Movilidad, a developer of service stations in Peru.

   With this acquisition, HAM said it was reinforcing its presence in Peru, the only LNG producer and exporter in South America since Argentina ceased liquefaction activities. “HAM Group aims to become a force in the Latin American clean energy field, investing over the next few years in the development of the first Peruvian service stations for LNG for long-distance truck transportation and CNG for passenger cars and light vehicles,” said the company.

Scandinavian Biogas, a Swedish producer of BioLNG has signed a long-term supply agreement with German filling station owner Alternoil GmbH, which has 40 LNG stations in its network.

Spain and the national gas grid operator and LNG terminal owner Enagás have marked the successful first phase of a European Union-backed project to bring liquefied natural gas maritime fuel to the ports of the Iberian Peninsula.

Cryostar, the liquefied natural gas equipment maker, whose products for vehicle filling stations are meeting rising demand from a widening network in Europe and North America, has launched a new fuel dispenser.

The owners of the small-scale LNG import terminal and fuelling facility at the Port of Ravenna in northeast Italy have formally entered commercial service as the first LNG fuel-dedicated port under the European Union's clean fuel policies.

July 23 (LNGJ) - Grupo HAM of Spain has opened another LNG filling station aimed at truckers at a strategic Spanish traffic location in Navalmanzano, Segovia, northwest of Madrid in Central Spain on the SG-332, next to the entrance and exit of the A-601, known as the Pinares highway.

   “The Gas Station allows LNG refuelling for all makes of trucks and keeps the liquid sub-cooled and adapts immediately to the optimal temperature of the trucks, including Iveco, Scania and Volvo,” explained HAM. “This allows for fast and safe refuelling with an innovative nozzle, designed by HAM, with a ‘nofrost’ system and a double anchoring and closing system, to avoid leaks, liquid losses and to facilitate its disconnection without emitting gas into the air,” stated HAM.

Grupo Ham of Spain has opened its 100th liquefied natural gas filling station and now operates around 25 percent of existing facilities in Europe for LNG-powered trucks and other vehicles.

The Ham group said the latest LNG filling station was opened in Saint Quentin Fallavier in southeast France, reaffirming its leading role in the vehicular natural gas sector in the European Union and elsewhere.

The company’s network of LNG and compressed natural gas (CNG) facilities is expanding in a growing number of countries with more than 30 in Spain and the others spread around the EU with most of them located in Spain, France, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands.

Ham has also established an LNG-CNG foothold in South America with filling stations in Chile and Peru.

“A report from the Association of Natural Gas and Biogas Vehicles, noted that in Europe there are 400 service stations that allow LNG refuelling and on one in four of facilities have been designed, built and commissioned by HAM, many of them being owned by us and forming part our network of service stations,” said the company.

Ham has also started developing networks in the newer entrants to the EU such as the Czech Republic, Finland, Poland and Slovakia, as well as non-EU countries like the UK and Switzerland.

“HAM as a trucking company as well was a pioneer in Spain in 2000 when it added to its fleet of 10 trucks, acquired in the US and powered by LNG, taking on a major environmental challenge with the aim of reducing polluting emissions and also building the first vehicular LNG plant in Europe for the refuelling of these vehicles,” explained the Barcelona-based company.

“Later, in 2009 we designed and built the first public vehicular natural gas service station in Spain, located in Abrera, Barcelona,” it added.

“We continue to bet on Vehicular Natural Gas, a rapidly developing market with great potential to achieve the decarbonisation of road transport,” stated Ham.

The company is also developing new concepts of fixed and mobile service stations, allowing easier expansion of the network.

Ham is also committed to adopting bio-LNG made from waste and will make more of it available over time.

“At Grupo HAM we continue to work and innovate, always working in direct contact with our customers, to offer the best products and services that adapt to their real energy needs,” declared the company.

French oil and gas major Total said it completed the first ship-to-containership liquefied natural gas bunkering operation in France’s waters at the Channel port of Dunkirk.

Demark is ready to enter the liquefied natural fuel market with the opening before the end of 2021 of the nation’s first LNG filling station in the city of Padborg, one of Europe’s busiest transport hubs with over 7,000 trucks passing through each day in what is a key junction for the transport of goods between Scandinavia and the rest of Europe.

The new station, which will be able to accommodate all types of trucks, will be located at Q8’s IDS station in Padborg, right next to the major Danish-German highway right on the border.

“Here at Q8, we have one clear goal for this project. We want to help our customers start a sustainable transition of their transportation,” said Gert Thomasen, Head of Fleet and International Diesel Service at Q8 Denmark.

“We are seeing a growing demand for sustainable solutions, and more companies now demand that their goods be transported using more sustainable energy sources, such as gas,” explained Thomasen.

“We want to enable our customers to get that transition going, and LNG is a highly relevant alternative for heavy transport, which can’t just be converted to electric overnight,” he stated.

The station in Padborg will be fully automatic, requiring no operator and the truck driver will be able to fill up his own tanks in just a few minutes.

The technical solution will be delivered in collaboration with the Dutch company LIQAL.

Bunkering and LNG fuel services company KC LNG, part of Denmark’s Makeen Energy, will deliver the station as a turnkey project, handling everything from project management to civil works and installation.

“The facility will also be delivered with an advanced online surveillance system that maximizes safety and user experience,” said a statement.

The companies developing the first Danish LNG filling station noted that around 30,000 diesel-powered trucks occupy the roads of Denmark every day, emitting significant amounts of carbon-dioxide.

“To steer the heavy road transport sector in a greener direction, it is, therefore, essential to transition to cleaner, more sustainable fuels,” they said.

“Therefore, Q8 has chosen to take the first step with this project, aiming to make it easier for North European freight companies to invest in cleaner technology,” they declared.

The LNG station in Padborg will be part of a European network as Q8’s IDS has 25 other European Union locations that also offer LNG.