Tourmaline Oil Corp. and Clean Energy Fuels Corp. have opened two new compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations in Alberta, marking a milestone in their continuing efforts to build western Canada’s first commercial-grade public CNG fueling network. The new locations in Calgary and Grande Prairie, along with the Edmonton station that opened in April 2023, establish a transportation corridor for trucking companies converting their fleets from diesel to CNG.
Powering long-haul trucks and other fleets with CNG results in lower emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter compared with traditional diesel-powered vehicles.
“We are expanding our multi-year diesel displacement initiative by making CNG more readily available to heavy-duty trucking companies,” says Michael Rose, chairman, president and CEO, Tourmaline. “Right here in Alberta, we have the technology, an abundance of natural gas and now the infrastructure to help facilitate a transformative shift in the transportation sector.”
The $70 million joint development agreement between Tourmaline and Clean Energy was announced in April 2023, along with their commitment to build up to 20 CNG fueling stations across western Canada in the next five years. In just over a year, their customer base has grown to nine companies that have already collectively displaced two million liters of diesel by using CNG technology.
“The adoption of CNG has continued to accelerate over the last year, as more companies recognize the benefits of displacing diesel with a reliable fuel that is easy to use and extremely cost competitive for fleets,” says Andrew Littlefair, president and CEO, Clean Energy. “The development of this critical infrastructure is perfectly timed as the important new X15N natural gas engine from Cummins is being introduced to the trucking industry to rave reviews. We expect that the combination of more fueling locations and the new engine technology, which is perfectly suited for the Canadian market, will pave the way for continued growth of CNG.”
Cummins recently introduced its X15N natural gas engine into the Canadian and U.S. heavy-duty truck market. Trucks with pre-production models of the X15N were tested over the past year by fleets from Walmart, Werner, Knight Swift, FedEx Freight and UPS. The engine was found to deliver diesel-like ratings as well as durability and reliability to allow fleets to reduce emissions without sacrificing capability.
Mullen Group Ltd., the first company to support the Tourmaline and Clean Energy initiative, plans to leverage the new X15N engine as it prepares to nearly double its fleet of CNG-fueled trucks.
Once complete, the 20-station network could fuel up to 3,000 natural gas-powered trucks daily. Construction on the next CNG fueling station is set to begin in Kamloops, British Columbia, with Fort McMurray and Fort St. John to follow. The CNG stations are also equipped with the same infrastructure needed for renewable natural gas (RNG), enabling a streamlined transformation when RNG becomes more readily available in Canada.
