Uniper Opens LNG Filling Station in Germany

German utility Uniper subsidiary Liqvis opened its first permanent public filling station for heavy trucks running on liquefied natural gas November 5.

The station is strategically sited at a busy junction at Grunheide near Berlin to capture the "especially high volume of delivery vehicles" that pass near its site and it is able to "fulfil demand for LNG owing to its excellent accessibility for logistics companies and heavy transport vehicles." It will briefly operate next to another, temporary station.

The permanent station was part-funded by the European Union's “Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Transport” programme, to the tune of €9.6mn ($10.9mn). Uniper is planning eight in total in Germany, three in Belgium and three in France.

Much quieter and cleaner than diesel, LNG can be used in long-haul transport. The technology is now well established and is already widely in use in the logistics sector. The Berlin location will allow two LNG vehicles to fill up with LNG simultaneously round the clock, seven days a week. Depending on the tank size, a single refuelling only takes between four and eight minutes and can be sufficient for a route of up to 1,600 km. The new station is open to the public and provides easy access to transport companies at a strategic traffic junction.