Clean Energy Provides Bunkering Services and Fuel to World’s First LNG-Powered Container Ships; Adds Trucking, Transit and Refuse Customers; Grows with Others
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. – Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE) participated in a little history last month when it supported General Dynamics (GD) NASSCO’s launch of the Isla Bella container ship, the first of its kind to operate on LNG fuel. Clean Energy provided bunkering services and fuel from its Boron, CA liquefaction plant for the GD NASSCO-built cargo ship, which was delivered to TOTE Maritime in San Diego. Clean Energy will also be providing bunkering services next month to the second GD NASSCO-built ship, the Perla Del Caribe.
“As the maritime industry begins its transition to LNG, Clean Energy is able to bring our many years of fueling services to ensure an easy and seamless transition,” said Andrew J. Littlefair, president and CEO of Clean Energy. “We applaud NASSCO and TOTE as world leaders in the introduction of the clean fuel to the commercial shipping industry. The use of natural gas is continuing to expand across the various transportation sectors and is the best choice economically and environmentally.”
By using natural gas, these TOTE vessels will be the cleanest cargo-carrying ships in the world and equivalent to removing 15,700 vehicles from the road.
The Company is on Track to Complete 68 Station Projects in 2015
Clean Energy signed additional agreements across transportation market segments of transit, refuse and trucking and is on track to complete 68 station projects before the end of the calendar year. These include new CNG and LNG stations as well as expansion and upgrades of existing stations. This is a comparable number to previous years when oil prices were significantly higher demonstrating the viability of natural gas as a competitive fuel in all market environments due to its price stability and cleaner profile.
Below are new fueling agreements and projects completed over the last few months.
Transit
- Clean Energy completed a $6 million private compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling facility for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority at its brand new Division 13 facility. Clean Energy is also contracted to maintain the facility for 10 years, making Clean Energy the sole contracted maintenance provider for LA Metro’s 11 private CNG fueling stations. The new facility will fuel approximately 175 buses that are expected to consume a total of 2 million GGEs of CNG annually.
- Clean Energy completed and opened a private CNG fueling facility to fuel up to 100 CNG buses owned by the City of Los Angeles and operated by Transdev. The station is owned, operated and maintained by Clean Energy and will provide an estimated 500,000 GGEs per year.
- Clean Energy has signed a four-year maintenance agreement with Union Gas Limited, a major gas utility in Ontario, Canada, to support a new station built for the City of Hamilton’s transit system (Hamilton Street Railway). This new station is anticipated to dispense an average of 2,800,000 gasoline liter equivalents or 750,000 gasoline gallon equivalents of CNG annually during the agreement term. The City plans to increase its fleet to over 120 CNG buses over the next 5 years. The agreement is the latest in Clean Energy’s rapidly expanding portfolio of Canadian transit agencies which include BC Transit in British Columbia, Translink in Vancouver, BC, and the City of Medicine Hat, Alberta.
- METRO Regional Transit Authority in Akron, Ohio has awarded Clean Energy a five-year contract to support their new CNG transit and public access fueling stations. The contract will extend the partnership between METRO and Clean Energy and will include support to a fleet of 100 CNG buses and paratransit vehicles. Clean Energy will also market the public access station to other customers, which is expected to be open in May 2016.
- Quad Cities MetroLINK, which services the Illinois side of the Quad Cities metro area, has awarded Clean Energy a two-year maintenance contract to support their fleet of 44 CNG transit buses, which are expected to consume approximately 550,000 DGEs of CNG annually.
- Clean Energy has been awarded a maintenance agreement with Transdev for their services with Gwinnett County Transit in Gwinnett County, GA. The agreement will support Gwinnett’s fleet of 25 buses consuming approximately 300,000 DGEs annually.
- First Student, a division of First Group America, will begin fueling 33 CNG buses at Clean Energy’s public CNG fueling facility at the Palm Springs International Airport. First Student is expected to utilize up to 90,000 DGEs per year.
- Burbank, California’s Bob Hope Airport has awarded an airport shuttle contract to MV Transportation which will fuel 13 CNG buses at Clean Energy’s public CNG fueling facility near the airport. The buses will consume nearly 80,000 GGEs annually.
- The Port of Seattle has renewed their maintenance contract with Clean Energy for their Sea-Tac Bus operations estimated to use approximately 450,000 GGEs per year.
- Clean Energy also signed a public fueling agreement with Better 4 You Meals, a school-meal vendor service in the Los Angeles area that is expected to consume approximately 100,000 GGEs per year.
Trucking
- Frito-Lay has renewed their agreement with Clean Energy to support their 200-plus CNG tractor fleet across Arizona, California, Nevada, Ohio, Indiana and Texas. The new contract is expected to significantly increase the fuel volume consumed each year.
- Matheson Trucking is adding 17 CNG trucks to their fleet and will fuel with Clean Energy at the Republic Services station in Boise, ID, until new stations are built in Boise and Salt Lake City, where Matheson will be the anchor tenant. Matheson is expected to consume approximately 400,000 DGEs annually during this multi-year agreement.
- Seaboard Transport will begin fueling 20 CNG trucks at a recently opened CNG station designed and equipped by Clean Energy. Each year the Kansas City, KS station will provide 500,000 DGEs of CNG to the largest Midwest Shipping company.
Refuse
- In October, All American Waste and Clean Energy held a joint ribbon-cutting for a new station in New Haven, CT. This is the second station in Connecticut Clean Energy has built to provide services to the Connecticut’s largest refuse company and estimates All American to consume approximately 500,000 DGEs per year.
- The City of Chesapeake, VA has contracted with Clean Energy to design, build and operate a public access CNG station for use by their refuse fleet. The city is currently using 35 CNG refuse trucks with plans to expand over the next two years to 53, which are anticipated to use an estimated 350,000 DGEs per year.
- The City of Spokane, WA signed a 5-year maintenance agreement for their recently opened station designed and equipped by Clean Energy. The City will use an estimated 200,000 GGEs per year and has plans to significantly increase their CNG vehicle fleet.
- Salt Lake County Sanitation has opened a new station designed and built by Clean Energy that will service 25 trucks for its refuse program. The fleet has 10 more trucks on order and will eventually grow the fleet to 50+ vehicles that will consume an estimated 400,000 DGEs per year. Clean Energy also has the maintenance contract for the station and has deployed for the first time its Clean Energy Fuels Fleet Management System. This system, designed for time-fill fleets, allows for the remote measurement of fuel usage in individual trucks, giving fleet managers more information to effectively manage their fleet and fueling operations.
- South San Francisco Scavenger has signed a new 10-year maintenance agreement with Clean Energy for their biogas CNG station. The station fuels 22 trucks and Scavenger plans to grow the fleet to more than 40 over the next three years.
- Republic Services continues to expand its already significant partnership with Clean Energy with an upgraded contract to fuel an additional 25 trucks at their Huntington Beach, CA facility as well as an agreement to build a new station in Daly City, CA. The Daly City station will support as many as 21 trucks when it first opens.
Natural gas fuel costs up to $1.00 less than gasoline or diesel, depending on local market conditions. The use of natural gas fuel also reduces greenhouse gas emissions up to 30% in light-duty vehicles and 23% in medium to heavy-duty vehicles. In addition, nearly all natural gas consumed in North America is produced in North America.
Clean Energy Media Contact:
Jason Johnston
949.437.1411
jason.johnston@cleanenergyfuels.com
Clean Energy Investor Contact:
Tony Kritzer
949.437.1403
tkritzer@cleanenergyfuels.com
About Clean Energy
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE) is the leading provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America. We build and operate compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling stations; manufacture CNG and LNG equipment and technologies for ourselves and other companies; develop renewable natural gas (RNG) production facilities; and deliver more CNG, LNG and Redeem RNG fuel than any other company in the U.S. For more information, visit www.CleanEnergyFuels.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including without limitation statements about numbers of vehicles expected to be deployed, amounts of natural gas fuel expected to be consumed, and the benefits of natural gas relative to gasoline and diesel. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors, including, without limitation, the price of natural gas relative to gasoline and diesel, the cost and operating experience associated with natural gas vehicles, and permitting and other factors affecting construction. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release and, unless otherwise required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Additionally, the reports and other documents the Company files with the SEC (available at www.sec.gov) contain risk factors, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this news release.