John Lewis to make use of UK's largest CNG filling station in Lancs

CNG Fuels has secured planning permission for the UK's largest CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) filling station.

Situated close to junction 28 on the M6 in Lancashire, the new fuelling site should be open in late 2015. It will be the first high pressure connected, public-access CNG filling station in the UK, capable of refuelling five hundred plus Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) per day, or as much as 3,500 kg of CNG per hour.

CNG dispensed from local transmission system (LTS) connected stations is the lowest cost fuel available to HGVs, as well as having the lowest Well-To-Wheel emissions of any fossil-based HGV fuel. The filling station will also supply renewable biomethane (Bio-CNG), and its first major customer will be Waitrose, part of John Lewis Partnership.

Philip Fjeld from CNG Fuels says: "Because the new station is directly connected to a high pressure gas pipeline we will be able to "fast-fill" hundreds of HGVs in a day. We plan to rollout additional public-access LTS CNG stations in the years ahead, meaning more companies can switch  to CNG or Bio-CNG.

Justin Laney, general manager, Central Transport, John Lewis Partnership says: “We are proud of the efficiency of our Distribution network, and a key element is running a low carbon fleet. We see the use of methane, and in particular biomethane, as the main opportunity to make a step change in the carbon emissions of our heavy truck fleet. We're currently running 44 ‘dual-fuel' trucks that use a mixture of gas and diesel fuel, and are also interested in running ‘dedicated' gas trucks. The Leyland gas filling station is in a good location for us, and importantly gives us the opportunity to purchase gas with ‘Green Gas Certificates’.”