• Nortegas is investing in strengthening its firm commitment to Asturias to ensure natural gas reaches as many household and companies as possible.
• The Mayor of Gijón and the Principality’s General Director for Industry stressed the close partnership with Nortegas and the importance of natural gas distribution.

Gijón, 14 January 2020- The Mayor of Gijón, Ana Gonzalez Rodriguez, and the General Director for Industry of the Principality of Asturias, Rosana Prada Otero, along with the Chairman of Nortegas, Conrado Navarro, and its CEO, Javier Contreras, have today opened the new Nortegas headquarters in Asturias, located on the Roces Industrial Estate in Gijón.

During the visit, the Mayor explained that the opening of this headquarters will help to maintain and strengthen Gijón’s industrial tradition and roots. She likewise welcomed with open arms a company that is committed to sustainability and to improving access to a fuel with all the advantages that natural gas offers. “it is, undoubtedly, one of the fuels that will be centre change in the great change in which we are immersed. And it is proper that Gijón has a company in its territory that has proven its trail-blazing position in the distribution of this resources,” she stressed.

From its new headquarters, which concentrates all its resources in Asturias, Nortegas is investing in strengthening and reaffirming its commitment to the Principality, in order for the largest number of individuals and companies to be able to enjoy all the advantages of natural gas under the best possible conditions.

Rosana Prada pointed out that “Nortegas’s commitment to consolidating and expanding its presence in our autonomous region has led to our ongoing and permanent partnership with this company, aware that the gas distribution sector is a strategic activity both for the general public and for companies. Therefore, we have worked with and will continue to work with Nortegas in the market growth and consolidation processes. We did so in 2018 in Nortegas’s projects in Aboño and in Grandas de Salime, in 2019 at the Santianes Industrial Estate, in Sariego, and will do so this year in those planned for San Esteban de Pravia”.

This firm commitment has grown down through the years, since the second half of the 19^th century when gas was first recognised as an alternative in Asturias.  It has resulted in a gas distribution network of over 2,000 kilometres, which now means that nearly 240,000 household and companies can access gas and enjoy all the advantages that this fuel offers. Special mention should also be made of Nortegas’s efforts to ensure that all the remote spots away from the distribution network can link up to the natural gas supply thanks to the satellite plants. That was the case of the Colunga district in 2017, with regular tank filling systems that guarantee users supply continuity and a convenient service.

In that regard, Conrado Navarro explained that “natural gas is, undoubtedly, a fundamental public service and, as such, plays a decisive role in the wellbeing and in the social and economic development of Asturias. Nortegas is thus following the path marked by our shareholders to guarantee that is the case, by working closely with all the stakeholders, from authorities, regional and local entities to companies and customers, driven by a vocation to serve and with our sights on the long term”.  The Chairman also stressed that all this work is always carried out “according to the three priority aspects of our ESG activity:  respecting the environment, health and safety at work and good governance practices”.

The new headquarters have opened at a crucial time for Nortegas, when natural gas is seen as a key player of the energy transition to a more sustainable society in the future.

In that regard, Javier Contreras explained that “with nearly 240,000 households and companies in Asturias benefitting from the supply, a figure that rises to over a million if we take into account all the areas in which we operate, the key role of natural gas today is undeniable”. The CEO also pointed out, that “without question, conventional and renewable natural gas has a brilliant role to play in the transition and the future energy mix, as an ally to the growing electrification, penetration renewable energies, improving efficiency, reducing emissions and improving air quality”.

In that respect, Nortegas is working on different alternatives. On the one hand, it is committed to the role of biomethane, which is growing in importance as a green alternative in Europe, to inject this renewable-source gas in the current distribution networks in an automatic, smart and cost-effective way. On the other hand, the company considers natural gas for vehicles to be the real alternative to fossil fuels for transport, as it allows nitrogen oxide emissions to be cut by over 85% and suspended particulates by nearly 100%, which are the most harmful elements for people’s health. It also reduces the emissions of CO2, the main greenhouse gas, by up to 20%.

During their visit, the delegates stopped at Nortegas’s tribute to the history of the natural gas distribution, along with honouring all the people who have worked and work to ensure that every household and companies can enjoy the comfort of natural gas with extremely high levels of safety and quality. The tribute is in the form of a gas meter, encapsulating the progress, that was used in 1902 to measure the amount of gas leaving the gas factory to the distribution network.