Certa, the fuel and forecourt retailer, has opened Ireland's first HVO - hydrogenated vegetable oil - station in Liffey Valley, west Dublin.
€1 million for the new forecourt
Certa, part of the DCC group, has been investing recently in a whole series of new filling stations across Ireland, many of which are fully automated. The new HVO station in Liffey Valley is part of what Certa calls "a new strategy to make the fossil-free biofuel, which is a renewable alternative to diesel, more widely available to motorists." The new forecourt has cost € 1 million to build, and it's the first to put HVO pumps alongside regular petrol and diesel at all of the fuelling points on the site. Previously, there had been only a single, standalone HVO pump at the Certa Lee Tunnel forecourt in Cork.
What is HVO? It's essentially an upgrade to the old trick of using waste chip fat for your diesel engine. Modern, more sophisticated engines won't run on just waste fat - it has to be treated first - but in theory, it can be used as a direct replacement for diesel without any need for vehicle or engine modifications to help motorists lower their carbon emissions by up to 90 per cent.
Reduce carbon emissions
"Our goal is to make it easy for motorists to transition to HVO as a renewable alternative to diesel and to make this biofuel as accessible as we can to help motorists to reduce their carbon emissions," said Andrew Graham, Managing Director, Certa Ireland. "Our immediate priority is to facilitate demand where it is greatest by upgrading a cluster of existing forecourts in the Dublin region to offer HVO at all pumps alongside diesel and unleaded petrol. We plan to complete the upgrading of our entire network by the end of 2024', he added.
In general, HVO is more expensive than regular diesel, largely because it's not made in the same volumes as diesel yet, but Certa has said that for now, it will price-match HVO with diesel to try and encourage Irish drivers to make the switch. "We want to close the gap on diesel to achieve price parity. We want our pricing for HVO to be comparable and competitive with diesel. That is our long-term goal and we are confident that we can achieve it," said Mr. Graham.
Expanding nationwide
While Liffey Valley is the first such Certa forecourt to get HVO pumps, it won't be the last. Eventually, the fuel will be available at 41 Certa locations around the country, with the first of the newly upgraded forecourts scheduled to open in Clarehall, Clearwater, Ballymount, Ashbourne and Drogheda before the end of the year.
Those 41 sites will also benefit from a plan to roll out solar panels to all of Certa's forecourts so that they can generate their own power rather than drawing on the grid. Certa recently bought out solar and renewable energy specialists Alternative Energy Ireland, and solar PV panels have already been installed at five of its forecourts.
66 Solar PV panels have been installed at the newly opened Certa forecourt in Liffey Valley to help power the site, including its carwash and two Electric Vehicle (EV) fast chargers with speeds of up to 180 kWh. The installation is estimated to save seven tonnes of carbon a year.
Certa's 100-strong tanker and delivery fleet will switch to HVO this year. Certa says that it has also helped a growing number of leading businesses and events to decarbonise and transition to HVO as a renewable fuel, including Amazon Web Service (AWS), John Sisk & Son Ltd., M50 Truck and Van Centre, The National Ploughing Championships, the Irish Open and Electric Picnic.
The machinery involved in constructing the new Certa forecourt in Liffey Valley was fully fuelled by HVO. The site's development has also come full circle with the provision of a dedicated Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) lane for HGV drivers and businesses committed to fuelling their vehicles with HVO.