Spanish energy company Naturgy and Vallibria Service Station SL, located in Vilalba (Lugo), have signed an agreement to open first public dual CNG and LNG Gas Refuelling Station in Galicia. The refuelling station will have a 60 m3 LNG tank, one LNG pump and two CNG pumps that will allow both light and heavy vehicles to refuel.

The strategic location close to the A-8 motorway (where the Cantabrian corridor begins) will give all the fleets in Galicia heading to northern Spain and France/Europe the opportunity to refuel with Natural Gas.

The Mobility Projects Director of Naturgy, Alfonso del Río and the Vallibria refuelling station manager, Adolfo Pérez Díaz signed the agreement.

Construction of this gas refuelling station, scheduled for October, will increase competitiveness in the Galician transport sector and fill the gap in LNG infrastructures for the Cantabrian corridor with private initiative given that the A-8 motorway is not included in the European transport development projects receiving financial aid to foster this type of infrastructures.

The launch of this new natural gas refuelling station forms part of the Naturgy’s project to encourage mobility aimed at using natural gas as fuel as the best sustainable alternative to petroleum-based fossil fuels and to promote the service station network in Galicia. It will support the CNG stations owned by the company in San Cibrao das Viñas (Ourense) and those currently being built in Santiago de Compostela and Vigo.

A real, sustainable and affordable alternative fuel for transport

At present, vehicular natural gas (VNG) supposes a real, sustainable and affordable alternative to traditional fuels for transport, including private, freight and light vehicles. All kinds of vehicles can run on natural gas: cars, vans, buses, heavy lorries and trains are already using this fuel.

The more than 26 million natural gas vehicles in the world demonstrate its technical feasibility, it being the most efficient and sustainable form of energy as it offers a significant balance of economic and environmental benefits by reducing emissions and generating less noise pollution. Furthermore, LNG is the only alternative to diesel in long-distance transport due to its economic competitiveness and for reducing pollutant emissions.

Natural gas for transport helps improve air quality as it reduces nitrous oxide emissions by over 85% and solid particles by almost 100%, the main pollutants that affect health. It can generate 20% less CO2 emissions than diesel and the environmental impact can be reduced up to 100% when using biogas.

In terms of noise pollution, vehicles running on natural gas produce 50% less noise and vibrations than those running on diesel. This factor is especially important for fleets that operate at night, such as refuse collection trucks.

Vehicles that use this fuel bear the ECO label of the Spanish Directorate-General of Traffic (DGT), allowing them to enjoy benefits including freedom of access to city centres at times when air pollution levels are high, as well as tax incentives and tax credits in regulated parking areas, among others. Hence, building the new gas refuelling station in Vilalba will allow passenger transport to be undertaken on urban roads with ECO transport thanks to the recent development of the first intercity buses that run on LNG.

Furthermore, the use of vehicular natural gas as a fuel represents a significant saving for users. Filling a tank with natural gas is 50% cheaper than refuelling with petrol and 30% more economical than diesel.