As a step toward expanding its presence in the clean energy sector, French industrial gases giant Air Liquide has completed its acquisition of ENN Clean Energy UK, a subsidiary of China’s largest privately-owned energy company ENN Group, for an undisclosed sum.

With the takeover, Air Liquide has added ENN Clean Energy’s natural gas stations in Wellington, Portbury and Huntingdon, UK, to its European network of more than 60 bio-NGV (natural gas for vehicles) stations. The sites will be supplied predominantly by Air Liquide’s biogas purification units in the UK, France and Sweden, through which it is already active in the field of biomethane production for gas grids.

In a statement, the French company said the purchase is an additional step in its development of transportation solutions that reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from well-to-wheel in the UK. With the acquisition of the British natural gas infrastructure development firm. it will be able to secure a place in a UK government scheme worth £20m aimed at helping the country meet its CO2 reduction targets.

As part of this pilot project, which will start in April of this year, Air Liquide will trial a fleet of 86 gas-powered trucks. Five of the trucks will be fitted with cryogenic refrigerating units for cold storage truck transport using Air Liquide’s liquid nitrogen solutions “blueeze” in place of diesel.