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Commercial-scale green hydrogen comes to Swindon
Two major hydrogen fuelling firsts were announced in October. First, a consortium including
BOC and Honda have opened the UK’s first commercial-scale solar-powered hydrogen production and refuelling facility at the Honda manufacturing site on the outskirts of Swindon.
The facility is the first to produce commercial volumes of hydrogen produced from solar power, by electrolysis, at the point of use. The station will employ BOC’s filling technology to serve a range of uses including hybrid vans running on sustainable biodiesel and hydrogen, the UK’s first hydrogen-powered fork-lift trucks – and even a hydrogen-powered education centre on the site.
The new facility has been integrated into the existing hydrogen refuelling station, which opened in 2011. It is hoped that this facility will be a benchmark for other refuelling stations to follow as well as reinforce the UK’s attractiveness as a location for major car manufacturers to roll out fuel cell vehicles.
The consortium, which comprises BOC, Honda, Commercial Group, Swindon Borough Council, Fuel Cell Systems, Briggs Equipment and Revolve, worked to secure funding from the Technology Strategy Board (now Innovate UK) and to design and commission the facility.
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s has announced that the UK’s first supermarket forecourt hydrogen dispenser will be located at its Hendon store by the end of the year. Developed with Air Products, the new dispenser will join a network of existing stations in London and the South East. The ‘SmartFuel’ station will be able to fuel a growing number of hydrogen-powered fleets driving around the capital, from buses running between Covent Garden and Tower Gateway, to hybrid delivery vans operated by Commercial Group and hydrogen-powered taxis already driving on London’s roads, says Air Products.