Our History

Natural Gas Pioneer PitPoint clean fuels International Expansion Total Gas Mobility

Natural Gas Pioneer

dutCH4 builds first CNG stations in the Netherlands

Our company history starts back in 2001, when a small start-up firm in the Netherlands called dutCH4 was founded by Erik Büthker – an engineer with a passion for the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel. It was dutCH4 that first introduced public CNG refuelling stations to the Netherlands. One of the very first stations it built was located at Schiphol Airport, which still is part of our network today.

The service and maintenance for these CNG stations was performed by a company called Ballast Nedam. In December 2007, Ballast Nedam took over dutCH4 and, in August 2008, relaunched the company as CNG Net. This new subsidiary company was founded to make CNG and biomethane more widely available to vehicles in the Netherlands by building and operating as many filling stations as possible.

PitPoint clean fuels

How CNG Net and LNG24 became PitPoint clean fuels

In March 2011, Ballast Nedam started another subsidiary company which focused on making LNG available to trucks: LNG24. The following year, LNG24 opened the first public LNG refueling station in the Netherlands, located in Zwolle. This was a unique moment in LNG fuel history as LNG stations had not been publicly accessible until that moment.

In June 2014, the activities of both companies – CNG Net and LNG24 – were merged into a single company that designs, builds, finances, maintains, operates and services fuel stations for CNG/biomethane and LNG. A few months later, in September of that same year, this company was bought by Bencis Capital Partners and established as the European Clean Fuel Company (ECFC).

On the first of January 2016, ECFC was relaunched under the new name and brand positioning of PitPoint as international provider of clean fuels. With the aim to make clean fuels available and affordable in order to reduce harmful vehicle emissions. With this new name came a bold mission, and vision: Creating a cleaner planet for future generations, and achieving 100% clean transport in 2030.

International Expansion

European leader part of the Total Group

Inspired by its ambition to become Europe’s leading provider of clean fuels, PitPoint started its international expansion by launching in Belgium; followed by Germany, in 2016, and France, in 2017. Operating as a systems integrator offering end-to-end infrastructure solutions for LNG, CNG, biomethane, hydrogen and electricity to companies and governments with large fleets. Under the slogan ‘Driven by Nature. Human Nature’ and focusing on the B2B clean fuels market with the aim to prevent harmful vehicle emissions.

In May 2017, PitPoint was acquired by the Total Group. Total’s ambition to become the responsible energy major and PitPoint’s mission to create a cleaner planet for future generations are well aligned. The integration of PitPoint accelerates Total’s strategy to expand its low-carbon business, expediting development and time to market in the natural gas vehicle (NGV) market in particular.

Total Gas Mobility

PitPoint integration with Total enters next phase in 2020

To deliver on the changing energy mix needs of customers, PitPoint’s offerings have been merged into the Total group from January 1, 2020, leveraging PitPoint’s clean fuels know-how and Total’s global market presence.

To support this organisation change, part of the Pitpoint workforce has moved to Total’s operational European affiliate offices in The Hague, Brussels, Berlin and Paris. The remaining workforce is now part of the global competence centre and business line for Natural Gas for Vehicles (NGV), Hydrogen (H2) mobility, Customised Transport Solutions (CTS, across all clean fuels), and small scale LNG for mobility and industrial use, located at PitPoint’s former HQ in Nieuwegein and operating under the name Total Gas Mobility.

The integration with Total evolves PitPoint’s value proposition. Our clean fuel offerings – LNG, CNG, biomethane, hydrogen, and electricity – will take an even more prominent place in the overall Total customer value proposition, enabling companies and governments to make the transition towards more sustainable and low-carbon transport solutions.