Company Announcements

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 21, 2020-- Regulatory News:

One of the leading retailers in the United Kingdom, ASDA, has contracted Air Liquide (Paris:AI) to install and operate six biomethane (BioNGV) distribution stations to refuel trucks on its sites. Alongside other investments to increase Air Liquide’s production and distribution capacities, this major contract marks a significant acceleration in the Group’s development of its biomethane activity in the UK.

British retail group ASDA will commission more than 300 new BioNGV (Natural Gas for Vehicles) trucks in 2021 to reduce the environmental footprint of its transport activities. To support ASDA, Air Liquide will install and operate biomethane stations on 6 of the retailer’s 15 sites. These stations will refuel both ASDA trucks and those of some partners.

The new stations for ASDA, which will be operational by the first quarter of 2021, will boost Air Liquide's network to 20 filling stations in the UK. These stations are dedicated to refilling fleets of trucks and buses. At the end of 2019, Air Liquide acquired Gas Bus Alliance, which added 7 biomethane filling stations for buses to its network in the country.

The Group will also install its tenth biomethane production plant in the UK by the summer of 2021, near Nottingham, with a production capacity of 90 GWh. Today, Air Liquide’s biomethane production capacity in the UK amounts to 650 GWh per year, which is enough to supply 1,000 trucks.

Air Liquide operates all along the biomethane value chain, with a circular economy approach, from the production and purification of biogas into biomethane in the plants it operates, to its injection into natural gas grids, and its uses, in particular as an alternative solution to traditional fuels for a cleaner mobility. Indeed, biomethane, produced from agricultural, industrial, or household waste, reduces transport CO₂ emissions by 90%, particles by 85% and noise up to 50% compared to diesel.

Emilie Mouren-Renouard , Member of the Air Liquide Executive Committee, in charge of Innovation, Digital & IT, Intellectual Property and Global Markets & Technologies World Business Unit, said: “We are very pleased to support our customers who choose renewable fuels to reduce their emissions. Thanks to a wealth of expertise and experience along the entire biomethane value chain, Air Liquide is strengthening its unique position in the United Kingdom and contributes to the construction of a low-carbon society and to the fight against climate change.”

A world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health, Air Liquide is present in 80 countries with approximately 67,000 employees and serves more than 3.7 million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. They embody Air Liquide’s scientific territory and have been at the core of the company’s activities since its creation in 1902.

Air Liquide’s ambition is to be a leader in its industry, deliver long term performance and contribute to sustainability. The company’s customer-centric transformation strategy aims at profitable, regular and responsible growth over the long term. It relies on operational excellence, selective investments, open innovation and a network organization implemented by the Group worldwide. Through the commitment and inventiveness of its people, Air Liquide leverages energy and environment transition, changes in healthcare and digitization, and delivers greater value to all its stakeholders.

Air Liquide’s revenue amounted to 22 billion euros in 2019 and its solutions that protect life and the environment represented more than 40% of sales. Air Liquide is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (compartment A) and belongs to the CAC 40, EURO STOXX 50 and FTSE4Good indexes.

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Source: Air Liquide