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The UK’s largest hydrogen production and bus refuelling station has opened in Aberdeen.
The station, which was built as part of a £19 million, government-funded, green transport project, will fuel Europe’s biggest hydrogen bus fleet. The fleet will consist of 10 Van Hool hydrogen fuel-cell buses – six of which will be operated by Stagecoach, and the rest by First.
The refuelling station, at Aberdeen City Council’s Kittybrewster depot, is owned and operated by BOC, and will test the economic and environmental benefits of hydrogen transport technologies.
It has been designed by BOC engineers to replicate a traditional covered diesel or petrol pumping station. The site produces hydrogen from a 1MW electrolyser unit, which comprises three electrolysers, each capable of producing 120kg of hydrogen a day.
Hamish Nichol, BOC’s business development manager for hydrogen transport fuels, said: “This is a step change from previous smaller projects, such as the Transport for London hydrogen bus initiative, in that the hydrogen is produced on-site, so it is reducing the carbon costs of that fuel.”
In a boost to its green credentials, electricity for the Aberdeen site is being purchased through the green tariff, which is supplied from renewable sources.
David Middleton, chief executive at Transport Scotland, said: “The activities in Aberdeen are providing real-world experience of the operation of a sizeable fleet of zero-emission vehicles, and operating a green hydrogen production and refuelling station. The operation of the hydrogen buses and other vehicles is helping to meet climate change emissions reduction targets and improve local air quality, as well as demonstrating the interaction with renewables and wider energy systems.”
BOC also operates a commercial hydrogen refuelling station in Swindon, at the Honda manufacturing site. That project has been awarded funding from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles to improve the site’s accessibility to the public.