FLUXYS BELGIUM D : LNG for trucks: Fluxys and Mattheeuws Eric Transport inaugurate LNG filling station in Veurne

Eric Mattheeuws, CEO of Mattheeuws Eric Transport and winner of the Green Truck Award at the Transport & Logistics Awards 2014, said: "The switchover to LNG means a drastic reduction in emissions and has considerable financial advantages as well. With Fluxys' investment in the LNG filling station, the logistics supply chain is now complete. We have developed a unique partnership with Fluxys, Eni, Volvo Trucks and Romac Fuels to promote LNG as a valid alternative to bio-petroleum. I'm convinced that LNG is the future."

Fluxys CEO Walter Peeraer said: "Fluxys wants to break the vicious circle in which the development of LNG infrastructure for transport finds itself: transporters are holding off on switching to LNG for lack of filling stations and too few filling stations are being built because the customer base is lacking. By joining forces with transporter Eric Mattheeuws we have lowered the threshold for other transporters to make the switch to LNG as a sustainable alternative to diesel."

Stefano Campagnolo, Project Manager Transport at the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) of the European Commission: "The European Commission supports LNG as an alternative fuel for trucks. The new LNG filling station will most likely be co-financed for 50% of the costs by the European Commission and is a project selected under the 2013 Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) calls for proposals. We are particularly pleased with this initiative, which forms part of a broader project and will provide interesting lessons both for policy makers and the industry alike. It also comes at the right moment following the recently adopted Directive on the deployment of alternative fuel infrastructure. This Directive aims at making the European economy more resource-efficient and less dependent on oil."

Construction of the filling station started in May 2014 and was completed on schedule by September 2014. The station is supplied by tanker truck from the LNG terminal in Zeebrugge. Eric Mattheeuws Transport counts 26 LNG-powered trucks among its fleet and operates the facility, which is also accessible to other haulage companies.

For Fluxys the project is a pilot both in terms of engineering, technology, permitting and working out the economics of an LNG filling station. The experience gained during construction and the feedback from Eric Mattheeuws as haulage company and operator of the filling station is to yield recommendations and best practices to be used when building additional stations.

As the initiative by Mattheeuws Eric Transport and Fluxys not only includes the construction of an LNG filling station but also aims at producing a business case for the industry as well as lessons to be learnt for public authorities, it will most likely receive co-financing by the European Commission. The project was selected for EU funding by an independent group of experts under the priority 'Measures to promote innovation and new technologies for transport infrastructure' of the TEN-T Annual Call 2013.

LNG (liquefied natural gas) is natural gas which has been converted to liquid form by cooling it to -161°C. This reduces its volume to 1/600th: 1 cubic metre of natural gas becomes 1.67 litre of liquefied natural gas.

LNG has a very promising future in freight transport and shipping due to its favourable emissions profile. Compared to diesel or heavy fuel oil, natural gas has the smallest carbon footprint and switching to natural gas also has an immediate impact on air quality and health:

• up to 25% less CO2;
• up to 90% less nitrogen oxide (NOx);
• negligible quantity of sulphur and particulates.

Natural gas also is attractively priced compared to traditional fuels in transport and has better energy efficiency, causing lower fuel consumption.

The European Council only last month adopted the Directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure. Member States now are to establish national policy frameworks to ensure that sufficient LNG fuelling options are available for ships at maritime ports and for trucks by 2025, and for ships at inland ports by 2030.

With a targeted policy for alternative fuels it is possible in Belgium to increase the number of LNG-powered trucks to about 1 500 by the end of 2025 and to substitute with LNG about 780,000 tons of heavy fuel oil used every year by the shipping industry.