• The European Union has approved 10-million-euro funding for ECO-GATE, a project managed and coordinated by Nedgia, Naturgy Group, leader of a consortium made of natural gas operators, technology and service providers, end users, and marketing and promotion experts from Spain, Portugal, France and Germany.
  • More than 20 gas refuelling stations for natural gas vehicles will be built in the four countries that are part of the project: Germany, France, Portugal and Spain.

Barcelona, 28 July 2017. The European Commission has approved funding of 10 million euro to develop ECO-GATE, a European project to develop the CNG and LNG market for transport across Europe. ECO-GATE is led by Nedgia, Naturgy Group, through the distribution company Gas Natural Madrid, which is the project manager and coordinator.

More than 20 gas refuelling stations for natural gas vehicles will be built in the four countries that are part of the project: Germany, France, Portugal and Spain, all of which will get the funding approved by the EC. Spain will get funds for refuelling stations in Barcelona, Burgos, Madrid, Murcia, Salamanca, Irún, Tordesillas, La Junquera, Córdoba and Cartagena, among other cities.

ECO-GATE is one of the most ambitious projects in the traditional and renewable natural gas market for vehicles. It involves the development of refuelling infrastructure along the Atlantic and Mediterranean Corridors, as well as the use of new technologies and innovative solutions.

ECO-GATE will make it possible to deploy large quantities of natural gas in a very short time, thanks to lower costs per unit and a better understanding of customers’ needs.

The European Union decided to finance ECO-GATE as a means to support projects that contribute to compliance with the European Directive 94/2014 and the development of the market of natural gas as alternative fuel for transport.

About ECO-GATE consortium

ECO-GATE is driven by a consortium made up of more than 20 companies from Spain (24), Portugal (3), France (1) and Germany (1).

As natural gas operators we have the following participants: Gas Natural Madrid, Enagas Transporte, Dourogás Natural, Endesa Energia, Agas Siglo XXI, Galp Energia, EDP, Repsol, Gas Natural Europe, Inversora Melofe and Molgas Energía.

As providers of technologies and services: Cetil Dispensing Technology, Soltel It Solutions, Fundacion Cidaut, Evarm Innovacion, Universidade de Tras-Os-Montes e Alto Douro, Fundación Imdea Energía, Audigna, Ghenova Ingeniería and Madisa,

As end users: Correos, San José López and EMT Palma,

And finally, as experts in market knowledge and promotion: Gasnam, Port Authority of Gijón, Port Authority of Huelva, University of Santiago de Compostela and Soulman Insightful Thinking.

About natural gas vehicles

Vehicular natural gas (NGV) plays a fundamental role in sustainable mobility to achieve the improvement of air quality in our environments and to comply with the environmental commitments. It reduces to “almost-zero” the reference pollutants for air quality that affect health: it eliminates almost 100% in NO2 emissions and 96% of PM volatile particles, both key factors in people’s health.

In addition, natural gas is a technologically mature alternative fuel, whose use has been widespread for decades in various countries around the world, especially in Latin America, and in many European countries such as Italy (one million vehicles) or Germany (half a million vehicles).

Source: prensa.gasnaturalfenosa.com