August 2004

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SINGAPORE - Southeast Asia’s first hydrogen station opened here last month, initially to provide fuel for DaimlerChrysler F-Cell fuel cell vehicles but also as a way station and first step for the owner, BP, towards expansion into future Asian markets such as China.

The carmaker is loaning six of its F-Cell fuel cell vehicles for two years of road testing to companies and a department of Singapore’s government, a July 20 AP report said. It is part of DaimlerChrysler’s plans to turn over a small fleet of 60 of these vehicles, based on the company’s small A-Class cars, to customers in Europe, Asia and the United States.

The station was built by Britain’s BP energy company at a cost of more than $1 million, the Singapore-based “BusinessTimes” online edition quoted Michael Jones, BP’s general manager for hydrogen, gas power and renewables as saying.

The same paper quoted Jones in a separate story as saying that the experience BP is gaining in Singapore and other BP stations in Barcelona and Hamburg will eventually be used in China. “What excites us is China’s tremendous growth,” he told the “Business Times.” “China may be an attractive first mover. It may even catch up with and overtake the developed world by bringing in fuel cell technology.”

Industrial gas producer Air Products, Lehigh Valley, PA contributed its Series 200 hydrogen fueling equipment, capable of dispensing 70 kg of hydrogen per day, the company said. The station has been developed as the inaugural project under the Singapore Initiative in Energy Technology (SINERGY) program. Earlier, DaimlerChrysler installed a fuel cell maintenance facility at a company service center which officially opened last April, according to another local paper, the July 22 edition of the “Borneo Bulletin.” Sources: Air Products (media), Art George, 610/481-1340, e-mail georgeaf@airproducts.com; Asian media reports.