Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the Newport-Beach based provider of renewable natural gas for trucks, airport shuttles and city buses (Nasdaq: CLNE), says its new station in Baltimore will make the area a hub for clean sustainable fueling.
The company’s renewable fuel—often referred to by the acronym RNG—is made entirely of organic waste and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
“The new station in Baltimore is part of an agreement that we signed with Amazon to build 19 new renewable natural gas (RNG) stations around the country, which are augmenting our existing network of stations,” a Clean Energy spokesperson told the Business Journal on Nov. 27.
The Baltimore location is the seventh of the 19 new RNG stations to have to be built under the Amazon deal, the spokesperson said. The deal was struck in 2021.
The front part of the station is accessible by all and is the traditional-looking, with several lanes of fuel dispensers.
The back part of the station is private for Amazon trucks to use “time-fill” fueling posts, the spokesperson said. Time-fill is a slower process especially useful for overnight filling for large truck fleets.
There are other stations that are nearing completion including others on the East Coast. A heavy-duty truck will be able to travel from Florida to the northeast on RNG soon, according to Clean Energy.
As part of the 2021 agreement Clean Energy struck with Amazon, the e-commerce giant was issued warrants to buy close to $500 million of the Newport Beach company’s, a deal that could see Amazon ultimately control about 20% of Clean Energy’s outstanding shares.
Clean Energy is currently valued around $760 million.
Multimillion-Dollar Investment
The Baltimore station, representing a multimillion-dollar investment, is located on the eastern edge of the city near the Pulaski Industrial Area. It provides heavy-duty truck fleets access to a low carbon, sustainable fuel in the busy East Coast trucking corridor along Route 95.
The station opening announced on Nov. 21 comes at a time when RNG is gaining momentum in the heavy-duty vehicle space with the introduction of the Cummins X15N natural gas engine in 2024.
The new 15-liter engine is currently being tested by a handful of the largest and most demanding fleets in the country, such as Walmart, Werner, Knight Swift, and UPS, according to Clean Energy Fuels.
The early reaction to the X15N has been very positive at a time when the heavy-duty truck market seeks to find affordable and reliable alternatives—including Clean Energy’s RNG—to decarbonize their fleets.
“Large fleets fueling with RNG have the ability to realize immediate and significant carbon reduction, especially in the heavy-duty truck sector,” said Chad Lindholm, senior vice president of Clean Energy.
“The opening of our station in Maryland and others around the country demonstrates the demand for an affordable, clean fuel that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and is available today,” according to Lindholm.
Clean Energy allows thousands of vehicles, from airport shuttles to city buses to waste and heavy-duty trucks, to reduce their amount of climate-harming greenhouse gas.
Clean Energy currently has a network of 590 fueling stations around North America and is steadily expanding that number with stations purposely built and strategically located for heavy-duty truck fleets.
