American Natural Gas (ANG) has opened a new compressed natural gas (CNG) facility at Northeast retailer Tops Friendly Markets' distribution center in Lancaster, N.Y., the fuel distributor announced.

The facility, built by ANG and located at 5873 Genesee St., will fuel Tops’ new fleet of 55 CNG tractors leased from Ryder System.

The station includes 400-hp Cobey Energy compressors, with a combined output of approximately 2400 standard cubic feet per minute (scfm), which equals 17 GGE (gasoline gallon equivalent) per minute. These compressors are designed to meet the high-flow needed for the narrow time windows Tops’ Class 8 tractors have to fuel up, according to ANG.

Tops is expected to use a minimum of 1,200,000 diesel gallon equivalent (DGE) of CNG per year, making this one of the largest CNG stations in New York state and the country, ANG added.

The use of CNG is expected to help Tops reduce its greenhouse gas emissions (including 6,276,421 pounds of CO2), run quieter engines, and conserve over 1,200,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year. The switch to CNG is also expected to reduce Tops’ fuel costs by 50 percent.

ANG is leasing the property for the fueling station from Tops, and it owns, operates, and maintains the facility.