U.S. Department of Energy to introduce NGV roadmap to Kazakhstan

ASTANA. March 10. KAZINFORM The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is hosting a Clean Cities Transportation Workshop for Almaty, to be held 30-31st March 2011 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the press service of the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan reports.

The event is a first step in introducing an implementation 'roadmap' to support a newly developing Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) strategy for Almaty city and Kazakhstan. It also will be used to introduce a wide range of information about NGVs, including global NGV development, vehicles and fueling segments, and standards and regulations.

DOE will be working with stakeholders in Almaty to create an NGV roadmap especially for its project in Almaty. Almaty city officials, the Kazakhstani government, and gas company Kaztransgaz are working to develop codes and standards for natural gas vehicles and infrastructure as well as training needs. The U.S. Department of Energy, Argonne National Laboratory, and Clean Fuels Consulting are using the experience of the successful Clean Cities program to develop a roadmap for these stakeholders.

To develop the roadmap, DOE is compiling input from a range of stakeholders including the

Almaty city government (the Akimat), KazTransGas, the national Kazakhstan natural gas company, British Gas Kazakhstan (which built the first CNG fuelling station), a variety of the

NGV equipment suppliers engaged in the project, local research institutes, and the principal funding institutions, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the United Nations Development Program.

Almaty Electrotrans (AET), the municipal bus company, will deploy 200 new compressed natural gas (CNG) fueled buses over the course of 2011, supported by a $35 million loan from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The first 20 buses were delivered in December 2010. All 200 buses are anticipated to be in service during the second quarter of 2011.

The initial roll-out of 20 buses occurred in time to support the Asian Winter Games slated for the end of February. British Gas completed a filling station for the buses in July 2010, which uses Dresser Wayne compressors. More stations are planned for the city by KazTransGas, a distribution-focused subsidiary of national oil and gas company Kazmuniagas, with the hope that private bus operators and other fleet operators see the benefit of this new, cleaner transportation technology. Once the pilot program is launched successfully in Almaty, the gas company plans to create a network of CNG stations ultimately supported by 50,000 NGVs.

More information about the upcoming conference can be found at http://www.ne.anl.gov/workshops/KZ11/.