After 15 years of waiting, the Regional Government of Cusco and the Camisea Consortium began the construction of the first CNG station, located in the San district Jerónimo, and launched the first vehicle converted to natural gas. The facility is expected to be completed in February 2020. The opening of two other service stations is also contemplated, in Cusco and in Quillabamba, which will be ready in June and August next year.
This project, including the NGV conversion, is financed with a budget of up to USD2 million, delivered by Camisea, and is carried out in line with the Regional Government’s plan to promote the use of natural gas. For this, an inter-institutional cooperation agreement was signed in February 2019, in which cooperation, coordination and assistance ties were established to facilitate and promote the development of the “Natural Gas for Vehicles in the Cusco Region” project.
“Today begins the era of natural gas in Cusco, the first molecule has arrived. This has been a joint work of the national, regional and local government with the consortium,” said the Regional Governor of Cusco, Jean Paul Benavente García, who described the day as historic.
He also stressed that this project is expected to boost the NGV industry with the conversion to natural gas of at least 1,000 vehicles currently operating with gasoline, in addition to articulating an economic corridor that allows to bring industrial natural gas next year.
The representative of the Camisea Consortium, Gonzalo Castro de la Mata Valdivia, also commented: “With the investment made in this project, we reaffirm our commitment to Cusco. In the short term, the region will finally be able to use its own natural gas, an environmentally friendly and much cheaper energy that will allow a Cusco drivers to save between 45% and 60%, depending on the type of gasoline currently consumed.”
As for the vehicle conversion, Limagas GN company is in charge of the transformation of the units. It started with five vehicles and the goal is to convert 1,500 cars to CNG between 2020 and 2021, in a range of 100 to 150 daily. The five NGVs are now refueled at a small dispenser located in San Jerónimo.
Source: Regional Government of Cusco
