World's biggest CNG
refuelling station opens in Toh Tuck
Christopher Tan, Straits Times 13
Aug 09;
THE world's biggest compressed
natural gas (CNG) refuelling station opened for business yesterday
- barely four months after construction started.
The 7,066 sq m station in Old
Toh Tuck Road near Jurong East, owned by gas bottler and cab
operator Union Energy, has 46 pumps. Twenty-five are operational,
with the rest expected to start dispensing gas when the station
opens officially on Sept 9.
Union Energy managing director
Teo Kiang Ang, who also runs taxi company Trans-Cab, said: 'The
construction was very fast. Getting all the approvals took a
year.'
He added that he is now
looking to build a few more stations in the northern and eastern
parts of Singapore.
With the Toh Tuck station,
there are now four CNG stations serving users on the
mainland.
Asked if the 4,200 or so CNG
vehicles here - or 0.5 per cent of the total vehicle population -
can support that many stations, Mr Teo was positive.
'Trans-Cab is aiming to have
3,000 more CNG taxis in the next 1-1/2 years or so. That's the
minimum.'
The man who entered the cab
industry only in 2004 now has more than 3,000 taxis on the road,
with around 1,000 of them running on gas.
The newcomer is now
Singapore's largest taxi group after ComfortDelGro.
Mr Teo said the station is
operating very smoothly, and a convenience store operated by
7-Eleven has also just opened for business there.
Although it has been open to
the public for only a day, the station is already a hit with taxi
operators.
'The gas is the cheapest on
the mainland, at $1.21 per kg,' said Mr Neo Nam Heng, managing
director of Prime Taxis. 'And it has so many pumps.'
The $1.21 price, however, is
only an introductory offer, and is expected to be adjusted to
$1.32, which puts it close to the current price of CNG dispensed at
Smart Energy's Mandai station.
Cabby Francis Cheh, 40, said
the new station is well located, but he still prefers to go to the
pump on high-security Jurong Island, as its gas costs $1.20 per kg.
'I live in Jurong, and I have a pass to enter Jurong Island,' he
said.
Meanwhile, the craze among
motorists to convert their cars to run on CNG seems to be losing
steam.
C Melchers, a leading
converter here, said business has been slow, and the company is
looking to diversify, such as by importing CNG commercial
vehicles.
Observers said reasons for the
waning interest include petrol prices having come off their 2008
highs of more than $2 a litre - although rates have been creeping
up of late - and the absence of conveniently located refuelling
stations.
The Toh Tuck facility, which C
Melchers helped to build, is expected to address the latter issue.
It is the largest of its kind in the world. The next biggest one is
in Bangkok, which has 44 pumps.
