First Compressed Natural Gas station launched at Dublin Port

Gas Networks Ireland and Circle K have launched Ireland’s first publicly-accessible, fast-fill CNG station at Circle K’s Dublin Port premises. The €1.45m project is co-financed by Gas Networks Ireland and the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility as part of Gas Network Ireland’s Causeway Project.

Ireland’s commercial transport fleet makes up just three per cent of vehicles on the road, yet is responsible for approximately a fifth of transport’s carbon emissions. Switching to CNG can reduce a Heavy Goods Vehicle’s (HGV), emissions by up to 22 per cent. In the future, these vehicles can achieve zero carbon transport when operating on renewable gas. GNI has a strategic plan to achieve 20 per cent renewable gas on the network by 2030.

The state-of-the-art fast fill facility at Circle K Dublin Port has the capacity to fill 50 HGVs a day with each fill taking no more than five minutes. This station marks the first public CNG re-fuelling station in a network of 150 filling stations to be developed in Ireland in the coming years.

CNG is natural gas which has been compressed to fit into a Natural Gas Vehicle’s (NGV) tank and is particularly suitable for use in commercial vehicles. It is a proven alternative to diesel or petrol and reduces transport costs by up to 25 per cent and carbon emissions by over a fifth. There are an estimated 25 million NGVs in operation worldwide, and almost two million in Europe.

The re-fuelling facility at Circle K Dublin Port is strategic public infrastructure which will be capable of providing a fully carbon-neutral fuel to the commercial transport market for the first time.

Gordon Lawlor, Managing Director, Circle K commented: “We are delighted to introduce Ireland’s first publicly-accessible, fast-fill CNG station through our partnership with Gas Networks Ireland. We are very proud to offer Ireland’s commercial fleet operators a cleaner and more cost-effective fuel alternative. At Circle K, we are committed to making our customers lives a little easier every day and together with Gas Networks Ireland we have plans to open additional CNG stations at key motorway locations in the near future.”