With the station in Meer, Rolande, the market leader in LNG in the Netherlands, and G&V Energy Group, the largest independent player in the Belgian filling station market, are opening their third LNG station in Belgium. This step means that the partners, with the facilities in Antwerp and Habay, now have a complete LNG network in Belgium, a major step in making freight haulage more sustainable.
“We believe in ‘greener’ transport that is also profitable,” said Jolon van der Schuit, CEO of Rolande. “At present, LNG and bio-LNG are the best fuels in that respect. With bio-LNG, heavy road haulage can achieve a 99.8% reduction in carbon emissions by comparison with diesel and we contribute to the European Commission’s goal of climate-neutral operations by 2030.”
Located at Londenstraat 3 in Hoogstraten, the new facility is a public, 24/7, self-service station with two LNG pumps. The capacity is 150 vehicles per day, ensuring fast refueling without long waiting times.
“With this new station, we are moving ahead to a Europe-wide LNG network. We have now achieved full coverage in Belgium but we will be opening more stations there in the coming year. This is an additional incentive for heavy goods haulage operators to switch to more sustainable road haulage,” added van der Schuit.
Haulage firms are increasingly faced with emphatic demands from clients to operate as sustainably as possible. That is why G&V is repeatedly teaming up with them to find the most appropriate and long-term solution.
“This location was built in Meer in response to demand from a lot of haulage clients. It is on one of the most important traffic routes for transport through Belgium,” commented Xavier Dewulf, CEO of G&V Energy Group. “In heavy haulage, LNG still offers the best solution for this demand at present. In addition to this location, several more key locations are planned for this year and next year. They include Zellik and Waregem, which will open in September.”
The station in Meer/Hoogstraten, like those in Antwerp and Habay, is part of the BIOLNG4EU project. It is 50% funded by the Connecting Europe Facility program, which is encouraging the further roll-out of LNG and bio-LNG in the road haulage sector. As part of this project, Rolande is also investing in the production of bio-LNG in the years to come.
