ENGIE Romania SA, a subsidiary of French multinational energy conglomerate Engie, has launched its first Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) refuelling Station in Romania. The station was inaugurated by company representatives and local authorities on July 13 and will serve natural gas vehicles operating in the administrative region of Bucharest.

Mr. Eric Stab, Chairman & CEO at ENGIE Romania, stated in his opening speech that “ENGIE supports, both at global and local level, the European policy to reduce the carbon emissions and promotion of ecological transportation by using alternative fuels able to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases.” He also underlined that “the best proof of our trust in this solution is that for the beginning we converted to this technology 25 vehicles of ENGIE fleet.”

The vice-mayor of Bucharest, Mr. Aurelian Bădulescu spoke of the importance of the direct support given to the investment by local administrations, which are working to cut GHG emissions. He addressed his gratitude for “this initiative that we have to call historical, since (…) it is the first [compressed natural] gas station, it is the first step in a direction expected for a long time.”

Mr. Gabriel Mutu, the Mayor of Sector 6, one of the capital city’s administrative districts, expressed his hope that ENGIE will “in the future open as many CNG refueling stations as possible, so that public transport in the first place, but also the transport for other types of activities can be based on this type of fuel.”

The festive moment continued by starting the refueling operations for two IVECO LCVs. Later on, private cars were also welcomed to refuel at the new station.

The state-of-the-art station is currently the biggest refueling station dedicated to alternative fuels in Romania. It has one dispenser with two nozzles, an NGV1 type for cars and an NGV2  for HDVs, but also accessible to cars with an NGV1 adapter. The CNG installation has an internal storage capacity of 2240 l, the equivalent of about 300 kg of CNG, just enough to fill 20 cars, without restarting the compressor.

The station is located Preciziei Boulevard and is open from Monday to Friday from 07.30 to 21.00 and Saturday from 8.00 to 12.00. The opening price was set at 3.90 lei per kg (EUR 0.837/1 kg or 0.98 cents USD). It is Romania’s third CNG station.

Building constraints due to its position in an intensive traffic area called for the compression equipment supplied by Fornovogas to be located on the canopy.

ENGIE also expressed interest in building further stations as demand increases from fleets and the private sector.

Source: Cătălin Văluțanu, NGV Consultant