UK: Shell opens first hydrogen fuelling station

Shell announces the launch of its first hydrogen refuelling station in the UK at its Cobham service station on the M25.

Shell has opened the first of three hydrogen stations the global fuel retailer plans to build in the UK in 2017. The new hydrogen station has been supplied by ITM Power and is the first fully branded and public hydrogen refuelling site in the UK.

“Hydrogen has the potential to become a clean and versatile transport fuel for the future, and the Cobham hydrogen site is one of the ways Shell is encouraging the use of alternative fuels to contribute to the energy transition,” said Matthew Tipper, Vice President, Future Fuels at Shell.

The opening of Shell’s first UK hydrogen site follows the success of sites in California, and in Germany where Shell is part of a joint venture with the ambition to open a network of up to 400 hydrogen sites by 2023. Shell is in the process of assessing the potential of future projects in the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

“Electrolytic Hydrogen is the cleanest and lowest cost renewable fuel available for fuel cell electric vehicles,” said Dr. Graham Cooley, CEO of ITM Power.

Hydrogen vehicles can drive up to 700 kilometres without refuelling and can be refuelled in a few minutes at a standard forecourt with a hydrogen pump.