Ireland’s eighth CNG refuelling station opens

Ireland’s eighth Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) refuelling station was opened this week by Gas Networks Ireland and Virginia International Logistics (VIL).

Working with Gas Networks Ireland, who installed and is operating the CNG equipment, the new station is located at VIL’s premises in Virginia, Co Cavan.

CNG is natural gas that has been compressed to fit into a vehicle’s tank and is available for heavy goods and commercial vehicles, while BioCNG is its certified renewable gas equivalent.

Fuelling with CNG is claimed to reduce a heavy good vehicle’s (HGV) emissions by up to 22 per cent, while BioCNG, which qualifies as a renewable fuel under the Irish Biofuel Obligation Scheme, can turn an HGV into a carbon neutral vehicle.

Demand for renewable gas in transport from Ireland’s road freight sector is continuing to show strong growth – in October, for the tenth month running, demand for this low carbon alternative to diesel saw another significant year-on-year increase, up 32 per cent on the same month last year.

Virginia International Logistics first introduced BioCNG compatible vehicles to its fleet in 2018, which it has since continued to expand and now makes up almost a fifth of the company’s vehicles.

In 2019, VIL became the first haulier in Ireland to complete a zero-carbon HGV delivery to Europe, when it brought a consignment of beef from Cavan to Caen in Northern France.

The expansion of VIL’s BioCNG compatible fleet and the installation of the refuelling technology is supported by Gas Networks Ireland.