GreenMan Technologies’ Subsidiaries Sign Deal With Wesfarmers LNG (Australia)

GreenMan Technologies, Inc. announced that its APG International, Inc. (APGI) and American Power Group, Inc. (APG) subsidiaries have signed a distribution agreement with Wesfarmers LNG Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Wesfarmers Kleenheat Gas Pty Ltd, to exclusively market, sell and distribute APG’s V5000HD Aftermarket Dual Fuel System to the heavy-duty on-road, and off-road diesel engine truck industry in Australia.

The initial term of the agreement is five years. Wesfarmers LNG is also entitled to service the light and medium-duty vehicular market for CNG and biogas applications. Concurrent with signing the agreement, APGI received a purchase order for six additional vehicular conversions and certification training services that will be used to facilitate the training of Wesfarmers LNG’s personnel as Certified Trainers and Certified Installers of APG products in Australia.

Kleenheat Gas extracts, distributes and markets liquefied petroleum gas and is a leading provider of gas services to residential, commercial, industrial, rural, and automotive markets across Australia. Through its subsidiary, Wesfarmers LNG and its EVOL LNG brand, it is the leading provider of liquid natural gas to the heavy-duty vehicle and remote power generation markets in Australia. Kleenheat Gas is part of Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy & Fertilisers which is a division of the diversified conglomerate Wesfarmers Limited. Wesfarmers Limited (asx:WES) is one of Australia’s largest publicly listed companies achieving over $54 billion (AUD) in annual revenue and employing around 200,000 employees in Australia and New Zealand.

For this LNG vehicular application, APG’s dual fuel aftermarket system converts diesel engines to function more efficiently and at a lower operating cost, based on current diesel and LNG prices, and subject to the particular vehicle characteristics and applicable driving conditions, by displacing up to 50% of the normal diesel fuel consumption with liquid natural gas. APG’s system is non-invasive to the OEM engine and operates within all OEM performance controls with the flexibility to return to 100% diesel operation at any time. APG’s dual fuel conversion and emissions reduction systems have lower carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter emissions than equivalent 100% diesel systems. In addition, the introduction of natural gas through APG’s dual fuel system does not impact diesel engine power or torque and will assist in extending the engine’s oil life as natural gas is a cleaner burning fuel compared to diesel.

Lyle Jensen, GreenMan’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are proud to be working with an industry leader such as Wesfarmers LNG to commercialize our latest turbocharged natural gas dual fuel system in Australia. The investment made in our Detroit-based automotive engineering development team has brought an ‘OEM-like’ discipline to our aftermarket conversions. APG’s digital electronics, software mapping, and emissions designs are performing safely and reliably on high horsepower engines in one of the world’s most demanding driving environments. In accordance with the agreement, we are in the process of enhancing the technology to ensure it is able to achieve the desired operating parameters across the broad range of vehicles and conditions that are encountered in Australia. A distinct economical advantage of using our Turbocharged Natural Gas(TM) technology is the application of our base design to a wide range of horsepower and engine models from around the world. We look forward to a long and successful relationship with Wesfarmers LNG.”

Commenting on the agreement, Kleenheat Gas General Manager Graham Smith stated, “We are very excited to be partnering with APG and introducing the V5000HD dual fuel system to the Australian market. Our trials have shown it to be a reliable and versatile system, and with the additional work that APGI is undertaking to enhance the technology to ensure it has broader application, it will be just what the Australian market needs. Combined with EVOL LNG’s market leadership in the distribution of LNG for the domestic Australian market, the APG V5000HD system, with the enhancements that APGI is currently working on, will assist our customers to better manage their fuel costs, and take up of this exciting alternative fuel.“

Mr. Jensen concluded, “We believe that a significant number of Australian vehicles will benefit from APG’s dual fuel technology. This next step of installation training will enable Wesfarmers LNG to train and certify both in-house and approved third-party partners to safely and reliably install the APG dual fuel system. We expect the training to be completed during October and will move into full-scale commercialization shortly thereafter.”

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Source: GreenMan Technologies, September 21, 2011