New funding to extend UK hydrogen refuelling infrastructure

Britain’s emerging hydrogen and fuel cell vehicle industries have been boosted by the announcement of nearly £9mn in government funding, while Shell has opened a second hydrogen filling station on the M40 motorway.

A consortium managed by Element Energy and including expertise from ITM Power, Shell, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai has won £8.8mn in funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) to improve access to an expanded network of hydrogen refuelling stations in the UK. ITM Power will receive £4.3mn to build four new hydrogen refuelling stations and to upgrade five existing refuelling stations to increase capacity and thus support a larger fleet of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. New refuelling stations are planned for Southwark, Isleworth, Birmingham and Derby.

The project, which has further funding support from the European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), will help to improve access to hydrogen refuelling stations and should increase the number of hydrogen cars on UK roads from this summer, says the DfT. It will capitalise on the reliable mileage of established fleets and will also see hydrogen vehicles being procured by emergency services such as the Metropolitan Police and hire company Europcar.

If successful, the project will allow hydrogen cars to be able to travel further around the UK. The £8.8mn grant will be matched by a further £13m investment, including support from participating companies, says the DfT.

Fuel cell electric vehicles are powered by electricity generated on-board the vehicle from hydrogen fuel passing through a fuel cell stack. This means they do not need recharging – instead, the driver refills the tank at a hydrogen refuelling station. The increased range offered by hydrogen cars compared to other electric vehicles makes them a good option for those regularly driving long distances, adds the DfT, with refuelling times comparable to diesel or petrol vehicles.

Dr Graham Cooley, CEO of ITM Power, stressed the importance of the new funding: ‘This project will deliver the largest expansion of the hydrogen refuelling infrastructure ever undertaken in the UK and is a very significant step forward for the UK hydrogen industry.’

Meanwhile, Shell has announced the opening of a new hydrogen refuelling station, supplied by ITM Power, at Shell Beaconsfield on the M40 motorway in Buckinghamshire. The opening follows the launch of the first branded and public hydrogen refuelling site in the UK at Shell Cobham in February last year.

Situated at one of the UK’s busiest service stations, Shell Beaconsfield will be the first site in the UK to bring hydrogen under the same canopy as petrol and diesel, providing drivers with a range of fuel choices, says Shell. Hydrogen is generated on site using an electrolyser that requires only water and electricity to generate the gas.

The hydrogen station at Beaconsfield is the fifth hydrogen refuelling site in the UK to be supplied by ITM Power and will be the first to be opened as part of the H2ME project, which is also partially funded by the FCH JU, and the UK’s Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).

Last, low emissions transport company ULEMCo has collaborated with Aberdeen City Council to deliver the world’s first hydrogen dual fuel road sweeper vehicles, which will use hydrogen for around a third of the energy needed to drive and operate them.

The sweeper has been adapted by retrofitting a standard EURO 6 DAF truck to run on both diesel and hydrogen fuel. Emission savings of around 30% are projected from the refitting of ULEMCo technology onto the DAF truck, and the partners believe this makes it best in class for both carbon dioxide and air quality emissions for this type of vehicle.

The City Council will be able to refuel the sweepers at the Aberdeen City Hydrogen Energy Storage hydrogen station, which makes hydrogen from renewable electricity on a daily basis. Aberdeen claims to have Europe’s largest fleet of hydrogen fuel cell buses.

The work was delivered as part of project HyTIME, within the Low Emission Freight and Logistics Trial, funded by OLEV in partnership with Innovate UK. 

Image: Shell opened its second hydrogen filling station on the M40 at Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, in March

Source: ITM Power