Belgium-based transporter Eric Mattheeuws has acquired 26 liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered trucks and entered into a partnership with Fluxys, which is investing in a brand-new LNG filling station at an Eric Mattheeuws facility in Veurne. The companies say this initiative is meant to help launch LNG as a sustainable alternative fuel for trucks in Belgium.
The filling station will have a 60 m3 LNG storage tank; all permits have been granted so that construction can start, and the station is slated to be operational this summer. Eric Mattheeuws will operate and perform minor maintenance on the station, which will also be accessible to other transport companies.
For Fluxys, the filling station is a pilot project in terms of engineering, technology, permitting and investment. The company says the experience gained with the project and the feedback from Eric Mattheeuws will help yield recommendations and best practices Fluxys can use when building additional stations.
‘Transporters are holding off on switching to LNG for lack of filling stations, and no filling stations are being built because there are no customers,” says Walter Peeraer, CEO of Fluxys. “By joining forces with transporter Eric Mattheeuws, we are breaking this vicious circle and lowering the threshold for other transporters to make the switch to LNG as a sustainable alternative to diesel.”
According to Eric Mattheeuws, “The initial tests are very promising. If, six months after opening the filling station, you read about additional investments being made, then you can be sure that LNG has begun its conquest!,”
