Fraud in gas consumption
Fraud has a major impact on the revenue of the sector. Accordingly, Madrileña Red de Gas is continuing with its active struggle in the detection of fraud, with the collaboration of the Administration. We are at the forefront of combatting fraud in Spain, having investigated 12% of the supply points.
But what is meant by fraud? Fraud is the manipulation of gas facilities, measurement units, security tags, use of direct connections, perforations, etc., which puts at risk the safety of users and other citizens and precludes the accounting of gas actually consumed.
For this reason, Madrileña Red de Gas has intensified this year its campaign of fraud detection to ensure the safety of users and better performance of our network, minimising the impact on the industry and consumers.
The results of this campaign have led to an increase of one hundred per cent of household operations, which have made it possible to detect 1,766 anomalies in installations and 5,126 frauds linked to 4,912 settlements for consumption of natural gas (122.7 GWh).
These results have been possible thanks to the rapid growth of the Madrileña Red de Gas fraud unit; also to the introduction of computer tools that combine the concept of GIS (Google Earth) with SAP for the location of affected customers in an intuitive manner through KMZ; mobility tools that allow the flow of information in real time from the operations carried out in the field; innovation and automation of processes; development of algorithms for prediction of cases of fraud (which quadruple detection efficiency) and also applications that make it possible to obtain instant information on the incidents detected for immediate resolution; and to the use of the latest technologies in materials for location in the field, such as the Wöhler VE200 (camera with flexible telescopic lens), etc.
In this spirit, MRG will continue its fight against the impunity of actions that could be constitutive of a crime and have a major impact on society and the sector, both in terms of the levels of safety of users and networks and on the facilities of the distribution companies in relation to economic aspects: losses in the case of distributors, impact on the household budget of the user, etc.
Environment
The care of the environment is essential to ensure a better life for present and future generations. Accordingly, it is a fundamental target within the policies of Madrileña Red de Gas. In MRG, we seek excellence and quality in all processes involved in those services that enhance the lives of our users. That is why we plan all our actions rigorously and responsibly, in a way that will allow us to reduce any impact on the environment around us without affecting the growth of the company. We seek to strike a balance between the protection of the environment and the need to remain sustainable and competitive in the long term.
This objective leads not only to the exercise of comprehensive control of the type of materials or elements necessary for our work, but also to encouragement for the use of cleaner alternatives such as natural gas for vehicles (NGV), which improves the impact of the carbon footprint.
Why NGV?
In 2014, and on the occasion of renovation plans for Madrid’s fleet of natural gas/compressed natural gas vehicles (CNG), we realised that one of the main problems of the Community of Madrid, in the area of activity of our company, was the environmental issue, as was shown last winter, when the highest ever episodes of contamination by NOx were recorded.
As distributors of natural gas, we have been working for years on the replacement of polluting energy by other cleaner forms, but in transport, which represents 50% of the energy consumed in Madrid, the same technological leap has not been achieved as in the industrial, commercial and domestic sectors. In Madrileña Red de Gas we knew that, as the most polluting energies (coal, fuel and diesel) were already in the process of replacement in these sectors, it was also possible to undertake such a conversion in the transport sector.
NGV⁄CNG is the alternative energy that covers all the needs of transport, from tourism to heavy trucks. This energy contributes not only environmental benefits but also economic ones, with 30% savings in the cost of ownership of vehicles as against solutions such as diesel, and at an equivalent purchase price.
With the complete switch of our fleet to NGV⁄CNG – 50 vehicles including passenger cars, vans and trucks – Madrileña Red de Gas is contributing to the improvement of air quality: our fleet emits around 20% less CO2 and, what is more important, with respect to local pollution (which we directly breathe) 80% less NOx, 95% less particles (two of the contaminants with highest emissions from diesel vehicles) and 0% SO2.
On the other hand, our vehicles have no restrictions on access to the city, even during the feared episodes of high pollution by NOx in Madrid, something which for MRG, given its activity, is an essential added value.
NGV and Madrid
The fleet of CNG-powered vehicles is experiencing a significant growth in the Community of Madrid. It should be noted that 100 percent of MSW (municipal solid waste) vehicles in the municipality of Madrid work with CNG, and already there are many municipalities that have opted for this solution: Pozuelo de Alarcón, Boadilla del Monte, Alcobendas, Alcorcón and Leganés, among others.
At Madrileña Red de Gas we have held meetings with various municipalities in our area of implementation to publicise the advantages of the use of natural gas as fuel in transport. As a result of these meetings, more and more municipalities are studying the implementation of this solution, which is environmentally cleaner for citizens.
EMT, which pioneered the use of CNG buses, with 800 vehicles powered with this fuel in Madrid, has recently announced the addition of a further 80 buses, as well as its decision that all standard buses that it will continue to include in its fleet will be powered with natural gas. As against diesel engines they are switching to CNG as the alternative energy most competitive in terms of cost and environmental protection.
At the present time, EMT has its own CNG refuelling station, located in Carabanchel, supplied from the network of MRG. Madrileña Red de Gas is continuing actively to collaborate with municipalities, such as Madrid and Pozuelo de Alarcón, in the promotion of the use of natural gas as an alternative fuel in transport. We have already ensured the introduction of various measures to promote its growth which are in force in the Municipality of Madrid.
- Reduction of mechanical traction vehicles tax, with a current bonus of 75%.
- Bonus rate for parking in the ORA (on-street pay and display car parking) areas (20%) for CNG-powered vehicles.
- Extension of time of access to the areas of priority for residents (APR) by two additional hours.
- Access to the central area of the city, without parking, during episodes of high pollution in NOx.
Proof of this are the ten public CNG service stations of the Community of Madrid, or the awarding by the Municipality de Madrid of six further sites for implementation of an equal number of further public CNG stations, four in the area of Madrileña Red de Gas. The first, located in Avenida de los Poblados, is already under construction.
In the different municipalities in which Madrileña Red de Gas operates there are also ten CNG stations, three of them public. The seven remaining supply various fleets, municipal and private, of trucks for MSW collection and passenger buses. A fact to keep in mind is the increase of 39% in the consumption of these service stations from 2013 to 2015.
On the other hand, this year CNG-powered vehicles have been granted access to the Avenida de América transport hub, which is a major achievement. We hope that this authorisation will be extended to the other hubs. This would enable companies that perform intercity transportation in Madrid to benefit from the use of CNG buses.
In Madrileña Red de Gas, we are continuing to work to promote these additions. As an example of our success, the Ruiz group, whose station is located in Leganés, is increasing its fleet of CNG buses each year and is expecting to increase the number of such vehicles. Madrileña Red de Gas is helping it to do this, by increasing the capacity of the natural gas supply infrastructure.
Following the line of collaborations with various agencies for the improvement of the environmental quality of Madrid, Madrileña Red de Gas is participating, along with the General Department of Industry of the Community of Madrid, in a programme of conversion of taxis to CNG. Through this initiative, the taxi industry has proven the economic and environmental benefits of the use of CNG as a substitute diesel fuel; among other things, there is a saving of 30% compared to diesel. Initially, there have been 20 conversions; these 20 converted vehicles alone have already avoided the issue of 14 tonnes of CO2, nearly one tonne of NOx and 0.2 tonnes of particles.
Alongside the taxi associations, we are working with manufacturers to have more production models approved to operate as taxis. In this line, the Volkswagen Caddy has been recently added.
Within the cooperation agreement signed with SEAT and Volkswagen-Audi Spain, Madrileña Red de Gas participates, from its experience as a user of CNG vehicles, in the training of the sales network in Madrid to present the advantages of the use of these vehicles.
In the sector of delivery or light transport in Madrid, there is increasing awareness of the problem of access to the centre of the city which is already occurring with diesel vehicles. Logistics operators and associations of carriers are seeing a solution in NGV. Companies like Seur have included CNG vans and are looking to extend their implementation within their fleets.
In this field, and although it will be necessary to have more stations and they are encountering saturation, there are “tailor-made” solutions. Depending on the number of vehicles and needs, the implementation of small compressors to recharge the fleets in their own facilities is already being studied.
We have also obtained approval for the conversion of heavy vans from diesel, applying to virtually all the current fleet. This measure opens up the possibility that companies that decide to opt for the alternative of CNG will not necessarily have to renew their fleets.
On the other hand, Madrileña Red de Gas is part of GASNAM (Iberian Association of Natural Gas for Mobility) within which it takes part in the promotion working group and educational days.
Environmental management
One of the landmarks of this year is the renewal by Tüv Rheinland of our certification as a company certified with the seal of business excellence in environmental management with UNE-EN ISO 14001:2004.
Our commitment to compliance with environmental legal requirements, arising from the implementation of the standard UNE-EN ISO 14001, are the focus of the environmental politics of Madrileña Red de Gas with a system of environmental management that achieves all those processes that involve the need to integrate criteria of identification and assessment in order to increase the effectiveness of the organisation in the achievement of our objectives. These include the prevention of the risk of environmental accidents, raising the awareness of our employees and the contractors, the efficient control and management of resources, in order to reduce the amount of waste generated in the headquarters, or environmental controls in construction, from spills, noise, consumption of resources, atmospheric emissions or emissions of methane from the distribution network.
It must also be noted that the environmental management philosophy of Madrileña Red de Gas is shared by our contractors, who have the corresponding certification of their environmental management systems.
On the other hand, in MRG we have defined environmental emergency procedures for leaks of LNG and THT, floods, poor combustion of boilers, losses of refrigerant gas, gas loss from the fire-fighting system, etc.
The actions carried out this year by Madrileña Red de Gas that have contributed to mitigating the environmental impact of our activities include the renewal of our fleet of vehicles by others powered by CNG, which is much more environmentally friendly, as well as the implementation of policies for reducing the consumption of resources such as ink and paper, the implementation of double-sided black and white printing criteria or the extension of the use of mobility applications that are replacing the self-carbon copy forms in paper format by capturing information digitized from the source.
As a result of the monitoring of environmental aspects related to the activities of Madrileña Red de Gas, we can present the following information:
Sustainable development
Our approach endorses the commitment of Madrileña Red de Gas to the global objectives of sustainable development in connection with our interest groups and activities, which are health and welfare, affordable and non-polluting energy, fair employment and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, sustainable cities and communities, responsible production and consumption and action for the climate and the life of land ecosystems.
Similarly, in Madrileña Red de Gas we are committed to the momentum of the recycling economy within our scope, as a measure to support the attainment of goal no. 12 “Responsible production and consumption”, included in the sustainable development goals of the UN and, very specifically, through the efficient use of raw materials and minimisation and responsible management of the waste generated by reuse and recycling. In this way, we are contributing to the transition to a recycling economy, a strategy that is key to the sustainability of the planet, as well as for the economy, as it will progressively reduce the destruction of valuable and scarce raw materials present in the current linear economy.
On the other hand, as a natural gas distribution company, Madrileña Red de Gas is taking on the challenge of contributing to the objectives of the COP21 by 2030, through the implementation of environmental policies for the improvement of the quality of local and global air, the implementation of the directive on alternative fuels and support for greater penetration of the natural gas network and the renewal of certain heating equipment. This action focuses on:
- The residential and tertiary sectors, with the substitution of biomass and other fuels by natural gas for heating and domestic hot water (DHW). This reduces the emissions of NOx, SO2 and PM, and the local and global air quality is improved.
- The transport sector, with the replacement of the vehicle fleet by natural gas vehicles that emit 20% less CO2 and achieve a drastic reduction of NOx, SO2 and PM, related to respiratory problems, without any additional cost.
Furthermore, we have joined the GRESB infrastructure initiative, participating for the first time in the survey for the assessment of its situation with regard to the critical aspects of
performance in environmental management and social and corporate governance (ESG, Environment, Social and Governance).
For Madrileña Red de Gas, this participation brings great advantages, such as the review and annual assessment of its performance, the identification of strengths and opportunities, access to information and a leadership position.