ITM Power launches first hydrogen refuelling station in London

ITM Power has launched its first of four public hydrogen refuelling station in London and is examining ways of sourcing "green electricity" tariffs to power hydrogen production at its UK refuelling stations.

The maiden hydrogen refuelling station is at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, west London and was opened on Tuesday by transport minister Andrew Jones.

Located close to the A316 and A308 trunk roads, the Teddington site is available for commercial and private fleets operating fuel cell electric vehicles.

Carmakers Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Renault partner Symbio FCell have all provided support for the launch, which is the first of three UK stations to be deployed as part of the pan European HyFive project, which was funded by the European Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCHJU) and the UK Government Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).

The second HyFive station will be located at the Centre of Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence situated on the A13 in Rainham, close to both Canary Wharf and the M25, with the third having gained planning permission to open on a Shell forecourt. Both stations will be open to the public in summer 2016.

To date, ITM Power has had 16 UK hydrogen refuelling station planning applications approved from 10 different local authorities.

The Department for Transport is spending £5m OLEV cash on helping open 12 hydrogen stations this year, some under the Hydrogen Mobility Europe (H2ME) scheme, part of an effort to make it easier for more drivers to switch to this super-clean technology.

Hydrogen powered vehicles emit no emissions from the exhaust pipe, just water vapour, and have a comparable driving range, speed and refuelling time to normal cars.

While hydrogen is an abundant element, not much of it exists in the pure, compressed form that fuel cells require, which means it must be extracted from other compounds such as water or methane.

London is a key test-bed for the UK hydrogen economy, being the location where Toyota delivered its first dozen new zero-emission vehicles, powered by hydrogen fuel cells made by ITM.

To make its hydrogen refuelling stations as clean-powered as can be, ITM also on Tuesday signed an agreement with AIM peer Good Energy to explore green electricity tariffs for hydrogen production.

"The company has a number of strategies for sourcing low carbon electricity for the operation of its hydrogen refuelling stations, which includes: direct coupling to renewable power generation; grid balancing to access renewable energy and renewable energy contracts," ITM said.

Mainly focused on its two main products of power-to-gas energy storage and hydrogen refuelling, ITM said earlier this year that it has £9.01m of projects under contract and a further £8.66m of contracts in final stages of negotiation, making a total pipeline of £17.67m.

Half year results showed revenues were up significantly, though the company still had work to do to reduce cash-burn and achieve profitability, it revealed in its half-year report at the end of January.