The EU’s TEN-T Program will support with €520,000 the construction of an LNG station for trucks in Veurne (Belgium). The publicly accessible facility, situated near a major motorway linking six European countries, is expected to help reduce the carbon emissions of freight transportation in Europe.
This project, scheduled to be completed by December 2015, aims to construct a pilot public refueling station in Veurne and to use the lessons learnt for the future construction of two other stations in Belgium and France. It will also address safety and security standards for LNG, which will serve as reference for developing national standards and safety legislation. The findings will be widely shared with the public authorities, transportation companies, fuel station and fuel card operators and fire brigades.
The initiative was selected for EU funding with the assistance of external experts under the TEN-T Annual Call 2013, priority ‘Measures to promote innovation and new technologies for transport infrastructure’. Its implementation will be monitored by INEA, the European Commission’s Innovation and Networks Executive Agency.
Trucks carrying goods between the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany often have to make a detour on their way to find the closest natural gas refueling station. Expanding the network of LNG stations would reduce the length of their travel and encourage more transport companies to switch to environmentally friendlier LNG use, thus cutting down on carbon emissions.
Source: European Commission Innovation & Networks Executive Agency (INEA)
