Chesapeake Utilities Corp. has entered into an agreement with Atlanta Gas Light (AGL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Company Gas, for AGL to construct and maintain a compressed natural gas (CNG) station at the Port Fuel Center located in Port Wentworth near the Port of Savannah in Georgia.
The station will provide a strategic staging area and CNG supply source for the company’s Marlin Gas Services subsidiary’s CNG virtual pipeline operations. Marlin is a North American supplier of mobile CNG utility and pipeline natural gas solutions, and the Savannah location will provide greater access to Marlin’s customers in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
“With Marlin now fully integrated into the Chesapeake Utilities family of businesses, we continue to look for opportunities for mobile fuel and virtual pipeline solutions that expand our Florida and Delmarva service areas,” says Kevin Webber, senior vice president of Chesapeake Utilities Corp.
“This new fueling station not only positions us to support Marlin CNG trailer filling but allows us to extend environmentally friendly service offerings to a variety of new customers in the Southeast,” he adds.
The Savannah station is designed to serve local CNG fleets as well as renewable natural gas (RNG) fueled vehicles, including high capacity dispensers for fueling Class 8 trucks. The station aligns with the company’s ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility by supplying clean-burning natural gas to fuel vehicles and making it available to customers with limited access to natural gas. Chesapeake Utilities is also in the process of developing and contracting RNG to supply ultra-low-carbon fuel for local fleets.
In addition, the CNG station will provide opportunities for both on-port and surrounding logistics centers to take advantage of various types of natural gas-fueled equipment, such as yard tractors and trucks, to advance their sustainability initiatives. Chesapeake Utilities and its affiliates are working with a number of truck and equipment manufacturers and financing entities to establish incentives and reasonable financing terms for fleet conversion – and Marlin will be offering a mobile fueling solution for fleets that are on-port or in the regional logistics centers.
The Port Fuel Center is a 15-acre fully permitted site with additional fueling amenities, restaurants and a convenience store. It will provide the full array of fueling choices – including diesel and gasoline – to serve the more than 12,000 trucks that pass the site daily. The CNG fueling station, which is slated to open in early 2021, has received the endorsement of the city of Port Wentworth and the Georgia Ports Authority.
Photo: Port of Savannah
