Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has been contracted to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Las Vegas. The plant will support United Parcel Service’s purchase of 48 heavy-duty LNG trucks.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. will build, own and operate the Las Vegas station for UPS under a seven-year agreement with three one-year renewal options. The station is set to open in the first half of this year, Clean Energy said.

“We are delighted to have this opportunity to extend our relationship with UPS to support its efforts to curb harmful air pollution and global warming emissions,” said James Harger, chief marketing officer for Clean Energy. “The new Las Vegas LNG truck fleet is part of continuing efforts by UPS to reduce its emissions from the use of fuels like gasoline and diesel, and to lower its carbon footprint.”

Clean Energy currently operates the largest LNG production plant in the Southwest in Boron, CA. The plant includes a 1.8-million gallon LNG storage tank. According to Harger, the Las Vegas station represents an opportunity to “fill in” an LNG corridor.

“This UPS station project is a major step toward realizing our goal to create a Southwest LNG truck fueling corridor that will extend along major truck transport routes from San Diego to Salt Lake City,” he noted.

The UPS purchase includes 48 LNG trucks, 38 of which will be deployed in Las Vegas with the remainder based in Ontario, CA, with all of the vehicles operating on routes between those two cities.

UPS expects the vehicles, which have a 600-mile operating range with no route restrictions, to produce 25% fewer greenhouse gas emissions and displace 95% of fuel used by conventional diesel vehicles. Clean Energy said those vehicles will use approximately 1.2 million gallons of LNG fuel annually.