Innovation that could drive hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

A unique hydrogen station in Rotherham is operational, taking excess wind electricity from the wind turbine on site and water to make hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles.

The Advanced Manufacturing Park is the Hydrogen Mini Grid.  The grid site consists of a 225kW wind turbine coupled directly to an electrolyser, 200kg of hydrogen storage, a hydrogen dispensing unit and 30kW fuel cell system.  The facility is a showcase for ITM Power’s hydrogen generation equipment and is used to provide retail hydrogen fuel services.

It is sited two miles from the M1 motorway which was highlighted as a key route for the early deployment of hydrogen refuelling in the UK in the published UK H2Mobility Phase 1 Report.  The facility develops ITM Power's modular commercial platform for hydrogen generation systems, Power-to-Gas and refuelling solutions.

The system is designed so that energy from the wind turbine is used to provide power for some of the buildings on the Advanced Manufacturing Park, with excess energy being used by the electrolyser to generate hydrogen gas.  The gas is then compressed and stored ready for dispensing into hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

The main area for hydrogen fuel use is for road transportation, which makes up a huge percentage of transportation emissions worldwide.  The UK has a target to reduce carbon in transportation by 90% and in the USA, California were the first to pass legislation on renewable energy mobility with funds being made available to support the deployment of a hydrogen infrastructure.

For more information, help or advice please contact Andrew Davison on 0191 211 7950 or email [email protected].