The municipality of Mörbylånga on the island of Öland in Sweden has held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new biogas filling station to be built in Färjestaden, the second in the municipality. Furthermore, the green gas station is being co-financed by Netherlands-headed OrangeGas BV, a new green gas market player with high ambitions for Sweden.
Located off the southeast coast of Sweden in the province of Kalmar, Öland is a popular summertime destination connected to the city of Kalmar on the mainland by a bridge. In 2018, the municipality of Mörbylånga was granted Climate Step (Klimatklivet) investment support from the Swedish Environment Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) for the establishment of a second biogas filling station in the municipality.
Thereafter the municipality conducted public procurement to find an entrepreneur willing to co-finance the project not covered by the grant. The Dutch renewable fuel retailer OrangeGas BV was awarded the contract marking its entry into the Swedish market.
We have worked in our DNA with local markets and in partnership. We are very happy about our first entry to Sweden and going to Öland and Färjestaden suits us just fine, now we also know where to go in the summertime, said Marcel Borger, CEO, and co-owner of OrangeGas.
OrangeGas was founded in 2008 and has built up a network of 82 green gas filling stations in the Netherlands and 52 filling stations in Germany. The company also has electric fast chargers in Amsterdam, liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) in Amsterdam, hydrogen filling stations under construction in The Hague, Amsterdam, and Utrecht. OrangeGas also has two green gas production locations in Beverwijk and Mijdrecht and one nearing completion in Hoorn.
Climate-neutral vehicle fleet 2020
The green gas station in Färjestaden is to be built on a site owned by Kalmarsundsfastigheter AB. Construction will start shortly and the gas station should be ready by June 1, 2020.
It’s especially fun for me to start the OrangeGas business here in my old home region. We are currently negotiating several establishments and have 20 applications for within the Climate Step programme at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, including Borgholm. We are also looking at producing biogas on Öland, revealed Mats Ekelund, CEO of the Swedish subsidiary OrangeGas Sverige AB.
Biogas is locally produced, sustainable, and simple, and the municipality of Mörbylånga works with the entire biogas chain, from substrate and production to distribution and consumption. The municipality’s goal is for all pubically owned vehicles to be climate-neutral by the end of 2020.
The municipality is, therefore, changing its own vehicle fleet while at the same time making it easier for residents, visitors, and companies to make the same necessary change.
On behalf of the municipality of Mörbylånga it is nice to be able to state that our efforts to facilitate climate-smart choices, both for ourselves and for residents, visitors and companies, are fruitful. Biogas is really a concrete way to do something about climate change here and now and we need to focus on acting, not just thinking, said Matilda Wärenfalk (S), chair of the municipal council.
High ambition
In Sweden, there are currently 180 green gas filling stations and rapid growth of liquefied biogas (LBG) refueling locations. OrangeGas wants to play a role in this and its ambition with its Swedish subsidiary in Sweden is high and several OrangeGas refueling stations around Sweden will be announced in the coming year.
Sweden is the Mecca for driving on green gas. It became popular more than 30 years ago and it still is today. We are also proud that we have been so enthusiastically received here with OrangeGas as a nice addition to the market, said Marcel Borger.
Preparations for a third and fourth filling station in Stockholm are in full swing. Within three years, OrangeGas hopes to have built a network of 40-50 filling stations in Sweden. In addition to the filling stations, OrangeGas Sverige also wants to become active with two own green gas production locations.
