Gasrec, which claims to be the leading supplier of gas to the UK’s road transport sector, has completed a £1m upgrade to its flagship refuelling facility at the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT).
New fuel dispensers, supply lines and a fuel management system have been installed, along with greater remote operability for the site, which has capacity to refuel up to 700 trucks per day.
Gasrec has also introduced its own fuel cards to provide better information to its customers and to prepare for expansion of its station network. Additionally, the systems align the refuelling process more closely with diesel to make driver training easier and more familiar.
Rob Wood, chief executive of Gasrec, said: “This investment reinforces our confidence in the growing demand for trucks running on renewable biomethane, which now represent nearly 5% of all new tractor unit registrations in the UK.
“We have seen a huge influx of new customers at DIRFT over the course of 2020. This demand has also led us to invest in our supply chain and more than double the number of LNG road tankers in our fleet.
“These latest upgrades will ensure DIRFT continues to hit our strict targets for safety, sustainability, refuelling speed and uptime, plus it means we are best positioned to refuel the latest generations of vehicles.”
The company projects that one-third of the UK’s 44-tonne heavy truck market will have transitioned to natural gas within the next seven years, with approximately 39,000 gas-powered HGVs on UK roads.
Commenting on the projected growth, James Westcott, chief commercial officer, explained: “Just two and a half years ago there were no real UK-spec gas trucks available, but following launches by three of the big manufacturers we’re now seeing exponential growth. We are already supplying double the volume of gas we were back in January 2020; and that’s after volumes shot up in 2019 too. Over the next few months we’re going to be supporting hundreds of new gas trucks coming on the market, as businesses look to build back from the pandemic greener and stronger.”
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