The decision at Edeka Nordbayern-Sachsen-Thüringen (NST) has been made: A truck fleet with bio-CNG engines is set to become the backbone of logistics in the future. The vehicles are expected to be deployed from three locations and will supply around 900 grocery stores in northern Bavaria, Thuringia, and eastern Germany. For Edeka, both existing gas stations will be expanded and new stations will be built. The gas stations are operated by OG Clean Fuels, which also supplies the bio-CNG.
Start in Marktredwitz
The new logistics center in Marktredwitz is the first location where the bio-CNG fleet is being established. With five gas trucks, Edeka NST will immediately start refueling at OG's facilities. By the end of March 2025, six more vehicles will be delivered to Marktredwitz. The fleet is expected to be expanded to 25 vehicles by the end of 2025. It is planned within the framework of replacement procurements to deploy around 150 new CNG trucks throughout Edeka logistics by 2030.
"By switching from diesel to regenerative bio-CNG, we can significantly reduce the CO2 emissions of our logistics. It is an essential component of the defossilization of our fresh logistics," emphasizes Alexander Tuks, Edeka's head of transport management. He adds further: "We have examined the use of all alternative drives and have concluded that bio-CNG is the most sustainable drive for Edeka Nordbayern-Sachsen-Thüringen."
Long tours of up to 500 km daily
The immediate reduction of CO2 emissions, the positive TCO considerations, and the ability to use proven vehicles in an existing gas station network were reasons for the decision. Due to the large area of the sales region, the tours of up to 500 km daily are comparatively long for food logistics. Already in 2022, Edeka decided to equip new acquisitions only with electric cooling, which also spoke in favor of using CNG trucks.
About Edeka Nordbayern-Sachsen-Thüringen (NST)
Edeka Nordbayern-Sachsen-Thüringen (NST), based in Rottendorf, is one of seven regional corporate groups of the Edeka association. It supplies around 900 retail markets in Franconia, the Upper Palatinate, Saxony, Thuringia, and northern Baden-Württemberg, making it the largest food retailer in the region. In 2023, Edeka NST achieved consolidated sales of 4.7 billion euros. The affiliated retail markets and the stake in Edeka Foodservice generated group sales of more than 5.2 billion euros gross. This gives the group a market share of around 20% in the food retail sector in the sales area.
About OG Clean Fuels
OG Clean Fuels is the market leader in Germany for the operation of CNG filling stations. The company operates a nationwide station network in Germany and exclusively sells Bio-CNG produced from waste and residual materials. The OG truck base network stations are the backbone of the CNG infrastructure for interregional road freight transport along the main transport routes. A large portion of the approximately 150 OG filling stations in Germany is designed for refueling CNG trucks. For logistics customers, OG also implements nationwide non-public as well as semi-public filling station networks and supplies trucks with Bio-CNG.
