Portuguese Fleet of Gas-Powered Vehicles Remains at 500 Units

The numbers for the Portuguese fleet of gas-powered vehicles remain at some 500 units, maintaining the figures of the last three years. The main reason for this stagnation is the absence of fuel supply stations in sufficient numbers and the removal of the reduced VAT.

On the commercial vehicle side Portugal currently counts some 40 compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks, mainly operating in garbage collection, and 350 urban buses, operating in four cities: Lisboa, Aveiro, Porto and Braga.

As for end of 2012, five CNG filling stations are operating in the country, of which one (Braga) is public. Associates of the Portuguese Natural Gas Vehicle Association APVGN are entitled to supply NG as fuel in the cities of Lisboa and Porto. In addition, for 2013 the inauguration of two new stations for CNG and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in municipalities of Mirandela and Maia is expected.

In 2011, 13,935,319 cubic meters of compressed natural gas were sold, which are only 3% more than in 2010. Portugal is presently producing biogas, but not biomethane. The produced biogas is mainly used for the generation of electricity.

The gas market in Portugal is furthermore supplied with a significant quantity of LNG (liquefied natural gas) through the Sines terminal operating in the country and it is also possible to import LNG from Spain. LNG as a vehicle fuel is currently not available at Portuguese NG filling stations though.

Former governmental support for NGVs has recently been removed. The Portuguese government imposed a brutal disincentive for natural gas, raising the VAT from minimum rate (6%) to maximum rate (23%), since the beginning of October 2012. Therefore the final price differential between CNG and liquid fuels has become marginal. Presently a distortion of prices can be witnessed, making LPG less expensive than CNG for each 100 km.

From an economic perspective, in Portugal the savings in fuel costs per kilometre for a medium duty car running on NG is about 25% compared to an equivalent petrol engine and 20% compared with a diesel version. Buses and trucks have special gas prices, lower than those for private cars.

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Source: NGVA Europe, January 16, 2013