BOC (London, U.K.; www.boconline.com), the UK’s largest supplier of industrial gases, has announced that it has signed an agreement with ITM Power, the energy storage and clean fuel company, to provide infrastructure for ITM Power’s new electrolyzer-based hydrogen refueling stations for passenger cars. The announcement underpins ITM Power’s ongoing plans to build a network of hydrogen refueling stations in the U.K. and demonstrates its commitment to green transport. Hydrogen-powered vehicles emit only water vapor, produce no carbon emissions or air pollution, have a range of several hundred miles and refuel in three minutes.
BOC, a member of The Linde Group, will use its specialist market knowledge to source and install the most appropriate Group technology including hydrogen compressors and dispensers. These will be installed at ITM Power’s new hydrogen refuelling station locations, based on its proprietary electrolyser technology. This latest siting and refuelling agreement builds on the existing successful partnership between the two companies.
The Linde Group is one of the leading gases and engineering companies in the world with over 135 years’ experience in dealing with gases, as well as the strength to create a safe and sustainable platform for alternative fuels and energy carriers such as hydrogen and liquefied natural gas (LNG). BOC is a key player in the development of the hydrogen transport fuel market in the UK.
Opened in 2011, BOC’s hydrogen refueling station at Honda’s site in Swindon employs BOC filling technology to serve passenger cars, light goods vehicles (LGVs) and forklift trucks and offers both 350 and 700 bar refueling.
BOC’s Aberdeen hydrogen production and bus refueling station is part of the Aberdeen Bus Project and fuels Europe’s largest fleet of hydrogen fuel cell buses. The station features Linde’s IC-90 ionic compressors and in its first year the station has demonstrated unparalleled reliability, with fuel availability of >99.99%, dispensing over 35,000 kg of hydrogen to the buses. It is this established technology and knowledge that is going to be delivered to the ITM Power refueling stations. Linde has delivered over 100 hydrogen refuelling stations around the world.
ITM Power is set to become the dominant hydrogen fuel supplier in the U.K., with plans and funding already under way to deploy eight refueling stations in and around London, having already opened one station in Rotherham. Of the eight stations, the first London refueling station will open in May 2016 at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington and the second will open in July at the Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence in East London (funded by the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking). A further three refueling stations will be sited on publicly accessible forecourts and these will open before the end of 2016. ITM Power has a hydrogen fuel contract with Toyota, which will see all Toyota Mirai FCEVs supplied with three years of hydrogen included for the consumer.