WITH THE OPENING OF THE STONEY COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS (CNG) STORAGE AND TRANSIT FACILITY ON MARCH 12TH, 2019, CALGARY IS NOW HOME TO THE LARGEST CNG TRANSIT FACILITY IN NORTH AMERICA.
The facility itself, which totals 44,300m2, has the room to house its fleet of over 470 40ft buses. In addition to this, there are 36 maintenance bays, two detailed cleaning bays and onsite fuelling infrastructure.
Working with Plenary PCL, BTY’s role on the $174-million project was to provide Lenders’ Technical Advisory (LTA) and Design-Build Independent Certifier (DBIC) Services.
The purpose of the facility is to convert Calgary’s fleet of buses from the traditional diesel power to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) – a move which will save the city approximately $4.7-million per year. As well as being cost effective, the move to CNG will reduce Alberta’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Natural gas technologies are proving to be one of the most effective alternatives to diesel. Given the large scale of fleets such as Calgary’s, as well as the fact that fuel costs represent approximately 30% of operation costs in the transport industry, it’s becoming increasingly more popular for commercial arms within the heavy-duty sector to convert to CNG power.
This facility is a welcomed addition for Calgarians as, until now, the city has had a long-standing infrastructural need for more bus storage resources.