Gasrec said it has completed an upgrade to its refueling facility at the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal, to meet the growing demand of transport operators making the transition to bio-LNG and bio-CNG.
The UK fuel supplier installed new fuel dispensers, new supply lines and a new fuel management system worth in total about 1 million pounds ($1.33 million).
Additionally, the systems align the refuelling process more closely with diesel to make driver training easier and more familiar, the firm said.
“This investment reinforces our confidence in the growing demand for trucks running on renewable biomethane, which now represent nearly five percent of all new tractor unit registrations in the UK,” Rob Wood, chief executive of Gasrec, said.
“We have seen a huge influx of new customers at DIRFT over the course of 2020. This demand has also led us to invest in our supply chain and more than double the number of LNG road tankers in our fleet,” he said.
Gasrec claims the DIRFT facility is the largest LNG refuelling station in Europe. It has the capacity to refuel up to 700 trucks per day.
Furthermore, it houses seven dispensing points, including four pumps and four storage tanks.
UK’s truck operators opt for natural gas
Gasrec projects that one-third of the UK’s 44-tonne heavy truck market will have transitioned to natural gas within the next seven years, with about 39,000 gas-powered HGVs on UK roads.
Commenting on the projected growth, James Westcott, chief commercial officer, explains: “Just two and a half years ago there were no real UK-spec gas trucks available, but following launches by three of the big manufacturers we’re now seeing exponential growth.
He added that Gasrec is already supplying double the volume of gas compared to January 2020, and that’s after volumes shot up in 2019 too.
“Over the next few months we’re going to be supporting hundreds of new gas trucks coming on the market, as businesses look to build back from the pandemic greener and stronger,” Westcott said.