DATS 24 opens first commercial CNG refuelling station in Belgium

On 17th February DATS 24, the Belgian filling station operator of the Colruyt Group, inaugurated their first commercial CNG refuelling station for Belgium in Halle (16 km south of Brussels) in the province of Flemish Brabant. A second station for cars and trucks opens its doors in March at the port of Antwerp (Vosseschijnstraat). More CNG service stations will follow shortly in Anderlecht and Ninove. DATS 24 will open about 25 CNG pumps distributed throughout its Belgian network within 3 years. For this purpose DATS 24 started the new marketing campaign Breathe! - drive on CNG and set up a new website for the interested customer http://www.cngdrive.be/. 

The inauguration of the Halle station was a great success and the event was attended by a wide public of industry representatives, fleet operators, local policy makers and NGVA Europe. It is possible to refuel 24 hours at the station in Halle and all credit cards are accepted at the payment terminal. The kg CNG is sold at 0,89 Euro. DATS 24 is also interested in looking into biomethane for vehicles, which is not yet produced for transport applications in Belgium.

The Halle CNG station was built in a joint venture of NGVA Europe members Bohlen & Doyen (Germany) and Orangegas (Netherlands). The two pumps in Halle use filling nozzles from NGVA Europe member WEH.

DATS 24 already purchased 3 Iveco Daily CNG and one VW Passat Ecofuel and will start to incorporate more and more CNG vehicles into their fleet. Colruyt director Luc Rogge is enthusiastic about CNG: "It is environmentally friendly because CO2 is much lower, it is cheaper for the consumer, it is better for the engine of the car and refuelling is done just as quickly as with gasoline,” he said.

"We are currently the only player on the market, but possibly more firms will follow us and we will get cars running on natural gas off the ground in Belgium. In any case, the environment will benefit from it,” said DATS 24 coordinator Flebus Raf, who also added he believes the rise of NGVs will begin now, especially near Halle.

Moreover, authorities of Halle and Flemish Brabant stated yesterday they were considering applying for the renewal of their fleet and opting for CNG cars. “It is certainly an option we should consider,” said Halle mayor Dirk Pieters, who attended DATS24 station opening.

NGVA Europe congratulates its members and DATS 24 to the starting shot for NGVs in Belgium!  

NGVA Europe members Bohlen & Doyen and Orangegas with NGVA Europe EU Affairs Manager Matthias Maedge	Mayor of Halle, Dirk Pieters, and Colruyt   Director, Luc Rogge, with NGVA Europe

Source: DATS 24 

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