CNG begins in Azerbaijan

© Official Website of President of AzerbaijanThe larger the fleet, the bigger the savings and the cleaner the air, so way to go, Baku!

In November 2014 the first six CNG stations for Baku (Azerbaijani capital) were announced by the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and one of them has just been completed. It will serve the new fleet of methane-powered Iveco Crealis buses (151 of them were ordered in May 2014) operated by BakuBus. A new service depot for the buses has also been built.

Although there is currently just one station, CNG buses can start operating immediately since the facility is quite efficient – it's big enough to refill up to 15 buses simultaneously and up to 300 daily. Also, the new depot will be able to service up to 12 buses at the same time to reduce downtime. The new facility (depot and station) has been officially launched by Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliyev and was ready to enter service just in time for the 1^st European Games in June 2015. With CNG buses in operation, Baku aims to reduce emissions (also of noise) and cut costs of running a public transport fleet.