Fuel supplier Certa has become the first Irish operator to open a HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) renewable diesel fuel station as it pursues a strategy of making the fossil-free biofuel more available to motorists.
The company, which is part of the DCC services group, said its new “forecourt of the future” in Liffey Valley in Dublin cost more than €1 million to build and is the first in Ireland to make HVO available at all pumps alongside diesel and unleaded petrol.
HVO is produced from waste plant matter and can be used as a direct replacement for diesel without any need for vehicle or engine modifications to help motorists lower their carbon emissions by up to 90 per cent.
Certa said it has already started to upgrade its network of 41 unmanned forecourts to offer HVO at all fuel pumps alongside other fuels.
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The first of the newly upgraded forecourts are scheduled to open in Clarehall, Clearwater, Ballymount, Ashbourne and Drogheda before the end of the year.
“Our goal is to make it easy for motorists to transition to HVO as a renewable alternative to diesel and to make this biofuel as accessible as we can to help motorists to reduce their carbon emissions,” said Certa Ireland managing director Andrew Graham.
“Our immediate priority is to facilitate demand where it is greatest by upgrading a cluster of existing forecourts in the Dublin region to offer HVO at all pumps alongside diesel and unleaded petrol. We plan to complete the upgrading of our entire network by the end of 2024,” he said.
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Certa said it is currently matching the price of HVO with diesel at its new forecourt in Liffey Valley and it is committed to achieving future price parity.
“We want to close the gap on diesel to achieve price parity. We want our pricing for HVO to be comparable and competitive with diesel. That is our long-term goal and we are confident that we can achieve it,” Mr Graham said.
