German hydrogen refueling network expands with country’s 50th station
In the presence of representatives of the European Union’s Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), the German federal government, the government of the federal state of Brandenburg and the city of Potsdam, Germany’s 50th public hydrogen service station was opened in Horstweg, in the southeast of Potsdam. Alongside a 700-bar pump for cars, a facility for an optional 350-bar pump for filling up buses has been preliminarily installed at the station. The technology for the new hydrogen facility at the TOTAL service station in Potsdam is produced by Linde and has the capacity for refueling up to 40 vehicles per day. The facility is owned and operated by H2 MOBILITY, a joint venture formed by the companies Air Liquide, Daimler, Linde, OMV, Shell and TOTAL. The partners’ primary goal is to operate 100 stations in seven German metropolitan areas (Hamburg, Berlin, Rhine-Ruhr, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Munich) and along motorways and highways by 2019. Another 300 hydrogen fuelling stations will follow as the vehicle numbers are ramped up. For the establishment of the hydrogen station in Potsdam, H2 MOBILITY has received funding from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (FCH 2 JU). The FCH 2 JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. H2 MOBILITY is part of the FCH JU-funded Hydrogen Mobility Europe (H2ME), a flagship project bringing together Europe’s leading initiatives in hydrogen mobility — in Germany, France, the UK and Scandinavia. Through H2ME, FCH JU is supporting the roll-out of a large scale hydrogen refueling infrastructure, aimed at enabling Europe-wide emission-free driving. “An important goal of our mobility strategy is the further development and testing of alternative drives. However, new mobility technologies can only succeed if the right infrastructure is in place. With the opening of the new service station, we have made considerable progress today,” said Kathrin Schneider, Minister of Transport of the State of Brandenburg. Bruno Daude-Lagrave, CEO TOTAL Deutschland GmbH, also commented: “We work very closely with partners from industry and politics and, with the opening of the 50th public hydrogen station, jointly attained a significant milestone on the road to a nationwide H2 infrastructure in Germany. The station in Potsdam is the 18th within the network of TOTAL and an important element for further hydrogen projects in the region. Owing to its location close to the highway, the station completes the nationwide network for the market launch of fuel cell vehicles and moreover gives the perspective for the development of a bus fleet in Potsdam.”
