The National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway) and Gas Networks Ireland are leading the introduction of compressed natural gas (CNG) and renewable natural gas (RNG) for trucks, vans and buses in the country. Marking a first for NUI Galway, the ‘Causeway’ project received approval for EUR 6.5 million co-funding from the European Commission under the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to support the development of a CNG refuelling network.
The ‘Causeway’ project also marks a first for NUI Galway, as this is the first time that the University has been successful in securing a funding application from the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility. The project will support an overall nationwide roll-out of 70 compressed natural gas filling stations. In addition to this, a renewable gas injection facility will be built in 2018.
This will introduce renewable natural gas (RNG) into the gas network for the first time. The work which is undertaken in Ireland will be monitored and documented by NUI Galway. This research will then be fed back to gas operators all over Europe and will assist in the development of similar projects across the continent.
This is a major project for NUI Galway to be involved in, as it will form the basis of the first use of an alternative, sustainable transport fuel in Ireland. Within our Ryan Institute for Environment, Marine and Energy Research, in particular, we have built up a track record in sustainability research and innovation. This includes decades of scientific and engineering expertise built up in the area of renewable gas. We look forward to NUI Galway playing a key role in distilling and disseminating the results and impacts of the Causeway Project, not only for the benefit of Ireland, but to provide learnings to other EU member states too, said Dr Jim Browne, President of NUI Galway.
The Causeway project, which is funded under the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), will deliver a clean energy project for Ireland’s transport sector, and in doing so, provide a template for the rest of Europe. NUI Galway is leading the dissemination element of the EUR 25 million project. Its work will facilitate new green energy developments across Europe.
Transport accounts for over one third of all energy used in Ireland. The development of a natural gas transport network will significantly de-carbonise Ireland’s commercial fleet. CNG, and the soon to be introduced renewable gas, will play a major role in making transport in Ireland cleaner. Gas Networks Ireland is determined to play an important role in facilitating the development of this new, cleaner transport network. It is particularly important that the advances we are making through this project, and through the work of NUI Galway, will play a role in changing the transport landscape throughout Europe, commented Denis O’Sullivan, Head of Commercial at Gas Networks Ireland.
Facts
About Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)
The Connecting Europe Facility – Transport (CEF – Transport) supports innovation in the transport system to improve the use of infrastructure, reduce the environmental impact of transport, enhance energy efficiency and increase safety. The total EU budget for CEF Transport is EUR 24.05 billion for the period 2014-2020. The Causeway project received approval for EUR 6.5 million co-funding from the European Commission and will run to the end of 2020. The delivery of 14 fast-fill compressed natural gas (CNG) stations in the first roll-out, will be the first significant deployment of CNG refuelling infrastructure in Ireland.
