LIQVIS to commission first permanent LNG station near Berlin

LIQVIS, a unit of the German utility Uniper, is set to commission a permanent public filling station with liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Freienbrink.

The plant is one of the first permanent LNG filling stations in Germany and was built at a strategic traffic junction near Berlin, LIQVIS said in a statement.

As soon as the filling station is opened for commercial operation, two LNG vehicles can refuel liquid natural gas in parallel. Depending on the tank size, a single refueling process only takes between four and eight minutes and can be sufficient for a distance of up to 1,600 km, the company said.

With the plant near Berlin, LIQVIS is realizing the first filling station site within the framework of the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Transport program. The company has received support in the amount of up to 9.6 million euros ($11.4 million) from the EU.

Further filling stations are planned at central locations such as Hamburg, Hanover, Kassel, Munich, Kamen, Ulm and Cologne. Also in France and Belgium, three new filling stations each in the Metz, Calais, Vitrolles and Liege, Antwerp, Brussels areas will contribute to the supply of LNG for trucks.

Silvano Calcagno, Managing Director of LIQVIS, said, “due, in particular, to unattractive political and economic conditions, the market in Germany has hardly developed so far.”

He added that by building up a demand-oriented LNG filling station network in Germany and select neighboring countries, the company aims to further promote the expansion of LNG in commercial transport.