New public bio-LNG station for FreshLinc and Gasrec

Gasrec already operates 18 biomethane facilities across the country, including its flagship site at Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT)

Alternative fuels supplier Gasrec and temperature-controlled transport specialist FreshLinc have announced that a new high-capacity, public biomethane fuelling facility – located adjacent to FreshLinc’s headquarters in Spalding, Lincolnshire – is scheduled to open its doors towards the end of the year.

Gasrec says the new site, said to be the first public bio-LNG refuelling facility in East Anglia, will help to open up strategic coverage across Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, supporting both regional and long-haul operations.

James Westcott, chief commercial officer at Gasrec, says: “This development partnership with FreshLinc will enable us to bring biomethane infrastructure to an area of the country that was previously not serviced.

“The demand for biomethane continues to grow at pace and the site in Spalding forms another important part of our plans to build a resilient national backbone of refuelling facilities allowing more and more operators to transition away from diesel.”

FreshLinc has been exploring various ways to decarbonise its fleet of approximately 400 commercial vehicles and believes biomethane currently offers its best route of switching to alternative fuels. It is planning to add its first intake of gas-powered trucks later this year.

Lee Juniper, CEO at FreshLinc, added: “Reducing the environmental impact of our operation is something we take very seriously. For our line of work, biomethane represents the best way for us to instantly reduce our emissions.

FreshLinc is planning on transitioning parts of its truck fleet from diesel to bio-LNG

“We ran a recent trial with Volvo gas-powered trucks and were impressed with the technology. The performance and refuelling is very similar to diesel.

“Having utilised Gasrec’s refuelling stations as part of the trial, we quickly chose them as our infrastructure partner. Reliability and access to fuel is paramount for us – as the most experienced operator in the UK, we’re drawn to the robust approach Gasrec takes to monitoring and maintenance, as well as the impressive station uptimes across its network.”

FreshLinc will work closely with Gasrec on the implementation of the new site. The immediate plan is to install a skid-mounted tanker-fed facility, with capacity to refuel 100 gas-powered trucks every day, before installing a large permanent refuelling site later this year.

“It’s important to stress this isn’t a FreshLinc-only facility,” Juniper continued.

“The site will be immediately open to the public, allowing like-minded operators of all sizes access to this cleaner and cheaper fuel.”

Gasrec currently has 18 biomethane facilities operational across the country, citing station uptimes of more than 99 per cent across the network. All facilities are supported by its Remote Monitoring Centre in Daventry, and a nationwide fleet of engineers which offers operational support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.