Two Public Hydrogen/Gasoline Stations Open in Washington, DC and Berlin

WASHINGTON, DC/BERLIN - Hydrogen fuel got a permanent base in the nation’s capital last month in the shape of a new fueling pump alongside existing pumps for regular, premium and diesel.

Manning the Pump: Shell Hydrogen CEO Jeremy Bentham refuels a General Motors HydroGen3 fuel cell minivan during the ribbon cutting festivities of the new Shell hydrogen station in Washington DC.

A joint project shared by Shell Hydrogen and General Motors, the remodeled Shell station sells both liquid and compressed 5,000 psi hydrogen at $1.99 a kilogram, in ballpark range of the price of regular gasoline.

In Berlin, Germany, meanwhile, another demonstration-type public station, claimed to be the world’s largest and apparently most expensive to date, unites nine different companies under one roof. It opened just a couple of days later in the western part of the city, with a full complement of top government and industry officials in attendance.

German transportation minister Manfred Stolpe refuels a hybrid fuel cell Ford with the help of a Ford technician at the opening of the CEP hydrogen station in Berlin.

The Euro 33 million ($42 million) “Clean Energy Partnership” (CEP) station, which includes an information center, is laid out to initially fuel 16 hydrogen cars built by BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford and GM/Opel, but eventually as many as 100 vehicles plus a city transit in the first three-year phase. Other partners include the German Aral retail gas station chain, a subsidiary of BP which will also offer gasoline and diesel fuels; Hydro/GHW, maker of electrolyzer equipment (H&FCL July 04); industrial gas producer Linde; the Berlin BVG transit agency and the Vattenfall utility.

The station offers both liquid and compressed gaseous hydrogen dispensed now at 350 bar (5000) psi but to be upgraded to 700 bar (10,000 psi) - as well as gasoline and diesel fuels. Hydro/GHW produces gaseous hydrogen on site via “green”-certified electricity from renewable sources provided by Vattenfall. Liquid hydrogen is trucked in by Linde and stored at the station in a 10,000 liter tank. BVG will start running a service station for hydrogen vehicles beginning in January.

In Washington, the new station is located on Benning Road in the northeastern part of the city, some four miles east of the Capitol across the Anacostia River. The $2 million station is the first in the country to include hydrogen at a commercial retail station open to the public. It also includes a visitors center in addition to the usual complement of snacks, candy, soda and chewing gum next to the cash register.

Hydrogen is stored in what Shell describes as a small 1,500 gallon underground tank and dispenser, designed and built by Air Products to dispense 20 kg of gaseous hydrogen per day. A second dispenser provides cryogenic liquid hydrogen.

It’s unlikely that vehicle lines will form at the hydrogen pump any time soon: for starters, the station will be used by only six GM HydroGen3 fuel cell vehicles the carmaker is stationing in the capital as a highly visible public relations tool to convince Washington’s movers and shakers of the technology’s worth.

Shell Hydrogen CEO Jeremy Bentham made that point succinctly: “The Benning Road station...represents a real-world urban-driving scenario to demonstrate hydrogen cars and refueling. The location also enables us to showcase the effectiveness of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in a city where key policymakers live and work.”

Added Larry Burns, GM’s vice president of research and development, “the only way the Hydrogen Economy will be realized is having not only fuel cell vehicles, but also convenient places to refuel and local communities that will support this transition to a new energy source.”

Phil Baxley, Shell Hydrogen’s vice president for business development, said his company is looking for opportunities to find more users, such as fleet operators of hydrogen vehicles “to spread the word.” The Benning Road station is “really the anchor of an Eastern corridor,” he added, an allusion to plans for more stations between Washington DC and New York (See Fast Forward).

Bentham said Shell has developed a five-step scenario on how to phase hydrogen into the consumer mass market:

• Step 1: Stand-alone stations with restricted access (such as depots for hydrogen buses);
• Step 2: Second-generation sites with public access but separate from existing stations (such as the facility Shell opened in Iceland in April 2003 for three buses - H&FCL May 03);
• Step 3: Fully integrated stations selling both traditional fuels and hydrogen;
• Step 4: Mini-network “Lighthouse Projects” within the next five years (semi-commercial, public-private partnerships with multiple energy companies, governments, and fleets of 100-plus vehicles);
• Step 5: Connecting the mini-networks in the 2010-2020 time frame, and filling in the white spaces.

“We are now celebrating the achievement of the third step, and are moving forward steps four and five,” said Bentham in Washington.

And in Berlin, Herbert Kohler, head of DaimlerChrysler’s powertrain r&d division, said, “We all share the goal of sustainable mobility. Only by working together can we move forward and defend or even extend technological leadership of our energy and automobile industries.” Contacts: Washington: Shell Hydrogen, Ben Finzel, 202/828-8809; GM Kimberly Hippler, 202/253-6498.; Berlin: CEP, iserundschmidt, pr agency, 0049/30/308 78 09 10; info@cep-berlin.de; www.cep-berlin.de.