At the venue of the World Gas Congress, GE France, GE Oil & Gas and GRTgaz have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the development of Compressed Natural Gas infrastructure in France. The signatories on the MoU were Clara Gaymard, President of GE France, Thierry Trouvé, CEO of GRTgaz and Josh Loftus, Chief Commercial Officer Gas Processing, GE Oil & Gas. For the first time, major players are joining efforts to develop the CNG network in the country, with the hope that their partnership will highlight the vital role CNG can play in the transition to an energy-efficient economy and provide greener fuelling for vehicles.

A few months away from COP21, this collaborative effort supports the fulfilment of the European Parliament and Council Directive 2014/94EU. This Directive compels the French state to develop an action plan for the development of Infrastructure for Alternative Fuels (AFI) by November 2016.

The infrastructure for CNG in France is lagging that of other EU countries such as Germany and Italy, where broader networks are already in place. GE and GRTgaz hope that their collaboration will help France develop similar reliable gas networks over the next decade and provide advocacy for the French Government to support the development. The MoU could be one of the first steps in delivering a CNG fuelling network to encourage adoption rates of CNG vehicles in France.

With this MOU, GE and GRTgaz have undertaken to:

- Gather and exchange technical and economic information to feed the French CNG action plan, especially regarding public CNG fuelling stations, as requested by the AFI Directive.
- Carry out collaborative and cooperative actions to promote CNG with all stakeholders and in particular with public authorities.
- Engage in discussions with other industrial or service companies involved in the CNG value chain to complete this initiative.

GRTgaz is involved in the current energy transition process and is actively preparing the third gas revolution to come, especially in renewable gas and CNG. Thierry Trouvé, CEO of GRTgaz, declared, “This partnership with GE is a big opportunity for GRTgaz to strengthen its knowledge into CNG fuelling stations. We wish this partnership to be enlarged in the future with other stakeholders to facilitate the development of CNG in France. We strongly believe that CNG is a very relevant answer to low-emissions issues in road transports.”

GE brings its considerable expertise with an array of technologies which can support the development of CNG infrastructure. GE Oil & Gas has developed a distribution system called CNG In A Box™ for the North American segment. The system provides a turnkey solution for fuelling stations and NGV owners who want a safe, low-maintenance CNG filling station that minimizes unplanned downtime. This modular technology also enables regional gas companies to better serve NGV owners—including individual consumers and organizations alike.

Clara Gaymard, President of GE France stated, “GE is committed to developing greener and more efficient technologies across the energy landscape and help France’s transition to a low-emissions economy. We are excited to be joining forces with GRTgaz to progress the development CNG fuelling infrastructure in France and we believe this can help make it happen faster and more robustly.”

About GRTGaz

GRTgaz is one of Europe’s leading natural gas transmission companies and a world expert in gas grids and transmission systems.
In France, GRTgaz owns and operates 32,150 km of underground pipelines and 27 compressor stations to transmit natural gas between suppliers and consumers (distributors or industrial firms directly connected to the transmission system). GRTgaz performs a public service role in guaranteeing security of supply to consumers and sells transmission services to system users.
A significant player in the energy transition process, GRTgaz is investing in innovative solutions to adapt its system and to reconcile competitiveness, security of supply and environmental protection. (www.grtgaz.com)
Follow GRTgaz on Twitter: @GRTgaz

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) imagines things others don’t, builds things others can’t and delivers outcomes that make the world work better. GE brings together the physical and digital worlds in ways no other company can. In its labs and factories and on the ground with customers, GE is inventing the next industrial era to move, power, build and cure the world. www.ge.com

About GE Oil & Gas

GE Oil & Gas is inventing the next industrial era in the oil and gas sector. In our labs and factories, and in the field, we constantly push the boundaries of technology to solve today’s toughest operational & commercial challenges. We have the skills, knowledge and technical expertise to bring together the physical and digital worlds to fuel the future.