Fluxys and Eric Mattheeuws Join Forces on LNG Trucking

Transporter Eric Mattheeuws has acquired 26 LNG-powered trucks and Fluxys is investing in a brand-new LNG filling station. The station will be built in Veurne on the premises of the haulage company and is to be operational in the summer.

This initiative is an important step in the launch of LNG as a sustainable alternative fuel for trucks in Belgium.

Eric Mattheeuws said: “The switchover to LNG means a drastic reduction in emissions from the trucks and has considerable financial advantages as well. With Fluxys’s investment in the LNG filling station, the logistics supply chain is now complete. We have developed a unique partnership with Fluxys, Eni, Volvo Trucks and Romac Fuels to promote LNG as a valid alternative to bio-petroleum. The initial tests are very promising. If, six months after opening the filling station, you read about additional investments being made, then you can be sure that LNG has begun its conquest!”

Fluxys CEO Walter Peeraer said: “Transporters are holding off on switching to LNG for lack of filling stations and no filling stations are being built because there are no customers. By joining forces with transporter Eric Mattheeuws, we are breaking this vicious circle and lowering the threshold for other transporters to make the switch to LNG as a sustainable alternative to diesel.”

Pilot project

The filling station will have a 60 m3 LNG storage tank; all permits have been granted so that construction can start. The station will be supplied by tanker truck from the LNG terminal in Zeebrugge. Transporter Eric Mattheeuws will operate and perform minor maintenance on the station, which will also be accessible to other transport companies.

For Fluxys, the filling station is a pilot project in terms of engineering, technology, permitting and investment. The experience gained with the project and the feedback from Eric Mattheeuws as transporter and operator of the station is to yield recommendations and best practices Fluxys can use when building additional stations.