Russian producer Novatek is looking to open another thirty LNG filling stations for heavy-duty transport in Europe as an increasing number of firms opt for the fuel to reduce costs and emissions.
Novatek already operates nine LNG filling stations in Germany and three in Poland via its unit Novatek Green Energy.
“We plan to construct and open another thirty LNG retail stations,” Novatek’s CFO Mark Gyetvay said last week during a conference call discussing the company’s quarterly results.
“Since commencement of retail operations, we have marketed approximately 12.5 thousand
tons of LNG through our European retail stations and in the first quarter, we sold 5.3 thousand tons for a seven-fold increase year-on-year,” he said.
Furthermore, Novatek said in December its unit had launched Europe’s first carbon-neutral LNG station for heavy-duty transport in the German port city of Rostock.
Novatek says it uses nature-based or other carbon offsets to compensate the carbon footprint of LNG sold to customers.
“We also had solid growth in our carbon-neutral LNG fueling station in Rostock, which sold 826 tons in the first quarter, and at this current run rate, the station has the potential to sell almost 3,000 tons on an annualized basis,” Gyetvay said.
“This compares to the average European LNG refueling station that sells roughly
1,000 to 1,500 tons per year,” he said.