Gas Networks Ireland in recent weeks entered into an agreement with Panda (part of the Beauparc group) to develop two publicly-accessible, fast-fill Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations in Dublin. The two stations will be strategically located with one on the Southside in Ballymount and on the Northside in Finglas. Construction on the project will get underway next summer with both stations expected to be in operation by the end of 2020. The project is co-financed by Gas Networks Ireland and the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility, as part of Gas Network Ireland’s Causeway Project.
CNG is natural gas which has been compressed to fit into a Natural Gas Vehicle’s (NGV) tank and is particularly suitable for use in commercial vehicles. It is a proven alternative to diesel or petrol and reduces transport costs by up to 25% and carbon emissions by over a fifth. In the future, these vehicles can achieve zero carbon transport when operating on renewable gas. While Heavy Good Vehicles (HGV) and buses account for only 4% of vehicles on Ireland’s roads, they account for 30% of all emissions in the road transport sector. There are an estimated 25 million NGVs in operation worldwide, and almost two million in Europe. Earlier this year, Gas Networks Ireland launched Ireland’s first publicly-accessible, fast-fill CNG station in Dublin Port with the second station due to be commissioned in Cashel early in the New Year.
Panda plans to commission 45 NGVs as part of their new ‘green fleet’ over the next three years. The move is the first of its kind for a municipal waste operator in Dublin and is part of the company’s commitment to reducing its emissions and carbon footprint across its operations. CNG for transport is one of the key gas technologies set out in Gas Networks Ireland’s Vision 2050 which outlines how it can reduce Ireland’s total carbon emissions by one third and create a net zero carbon gas network.
See www.gasnetworks.ie/vision2050 for more information.
