Another 10 natural gas stations planned for France
Endesa, a subsidiary of Italian multinational energy supplier Enel Group, and SIGEIF (the association of municipalities for the management of gas and electricity in Ile-de-France) have signed a contract for the supply and operation of the first public vehicular natural gas filling station in Ile de France. The new Endesa service station, covering 4,000 m2, will be open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and have compressed gas (CNG) and renewable natural gas (RNG – biomethane), for rapid refueling.
The new service station, the largest in France, will be located in the town of Port Autonome de Paris, in the Bonneuil-sur-Marne commune east of the French capital, and it will supply trucks passing through this important logistics hub.
lle de France comprises the Paris metropolitan area and is one of the regions with the highest income per capita in the world (representing approximately 30% of French GDP). It is France’s most densely populated region, and has more inhabitants than Belgium, Sweden and Greece (11 million inhabitants, approximately 18% of the French population).
The opening of the Endesa CNG station is scheduled for end of September (according to a separate SIGEIF press release), and is part of the company’s strategy for growth in France and Europe through the supply of CNG, a fuel that reduces the emission of particulates by 95%, SOx emissions by 100% and NOx emissions by 65%. Biomethane, methane from renewable sources, also reduces CO2 emissions by more than 90%. The awarding of the contract is part of a plan for the prevention of pollution in the city of Paris and its metropolitan area.
Endesa and SIGEIF, which includes 185 municipalities in the Paris metropolitan area, will continue to work to provide specific solutions to pollution problems. For this reason, SIGEIF plans to invest in the construction of another 10 gas stations in France. In January, SIGEIF and Caisse des Dépôts (French government-controlled financial organisation) and signed on January 8 last a protocol of intent to create a common investment tool in the form of a mixed company, for the development of refueling infrastructure natural gas in Île-de-France.
In addition to the environmental benefits, compared with diesel, natural gas allows fuel savings and reduces maintenance costs. With a range that can exceed 500 km in heavy vehicles, Endesa says it is the alternative to diesel for road transport of goods.
At the trade fair of the Association of Mayors of Ile-de-France this week, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between SIGEIF, SIREDOM (Intermunicipal Association for Recycling and Energy by Waste and Refuse) and GRDF (provider of the natural gas network) to develop the use of biomethane as fuel in transport of goods and people in Essonne, a French department in the region of Île-de-France.
This protocol aims at the production of biogas from SIREDOM recovery of waste processed for the union and its injection into the public distribution network operated by GRDF in connection with the SIGEIF. It is also studying the possibility of building refueling stations CNG / biomethane near SIREDOM processing facilities (energy recovery unit of Vert-le-Grand transfer center and Etampes eco-centers network). Initially, these stations would aim to power vehicles providers and collection trucks.
Endesa recently signed an agreement with the French transport company CityLogistics for the supply of natural gas and biomethane for vehicular use for the company’s entire fleet of vehicles in the city of Lyon. The agreement, which lasts eight years, involves ensuring the supply of natural gas for CityLogistics’s growing vehicle fleet in this French city.
(Source: Endesa, SIGEIF)
